705001 – Housekeeping Management

ISN'T IT ALL SUN, SAND, AND SURF?

Gaye Lynn Bennett knew she had been the number-one choice for executive housekeeper
when the World Hotels, Inc. management company contracted for its first whole ownership
condominium management contract. The company needed an experienced executive
housekeeper who could turn around a resort housekeeping department plagued by poor produc-
tivity and even poorer guest/owner comment cards. Since Gaye Lynn had built an exemplary
housekeeping team at the four-diamond, 375-room World Hotels-managed property in
downtown Chicago, she knew she had the skills that could help Plantation Palms Beach Resort
in Shell Island, Florida, succeed.
After all, she reasoned, the resort had only 250 units, compared with the 375 she had been
overseeing. Because most owners or guests stayed a week at a time, she didn't expect the units to
require the kind of daily, on-your-toes scheduling attention she had experienced in the
housekeeping department at her highly transient urban hotel. And because the resort was on an
island, she didn't think turnover would be much of a problem: People living on an island don't
exactly have a lot of choices when it comes to finding a good job, she thought to herself. In fact,
she wasn't too concerned at all about her new position: "I'm going to Florida!" was all she could
think about.
But now, at the end of her first week, Gaye Lynn is beginning to think there was more to the
resort condominium industry than she had imagined. Many of her initial assumptions seemed to
have serious flaws. They surfaced this morning when the resort's long-time general manager,
Lloyd Landis, called her into his office to discuss her proposal for upgrading the quality and
productivity of the housekeeping department while reducing costs. Instead of offering
congratulations for her ideas, he greeted her with a vaguely bemused smile.
"Gaye Lynn," he began, "I'm really impressed by the fact that you were able to submit these
proposals after just four days on the job."
She was about to say "thank you," but it was clear he wasn't finished.
"I think your proposal is a bit premature, though. I have no doubt that these were all
successful approaches back in Chicago. But this isn't Chicago, it's Shell Island. What's more, it's
a condominium resort, not a hotel. I tried explaining those things to the company before you
came on board, but... Well, let's just say that we're in this together now."
"I'm not sure I understand," Gaye Lynn said.

"Well, let's look at some of your recommendations. You suggested that in order to increase
our productivity and housekeeping quality we should increase our current staff from 50 to 100.1
can certainly understand how having more staff available would enable our housekeepers to
spend more time in—and take better care of—each unit. But you didn't spell out where we
would find those 50 additional, qualified people."
Gaye Lynn frowned. "This is a resort area, right? When I told my staff in Chicago that I was

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coming to Florida, you should have seen the envy in their eyes. I mean, it's sun, sand, and surf.
I'm surprised that you haven't seen a lot of other folks flocking to live and work here."

Lloyd shook his head. "A resort location is simply too expensive for hourly employees to
live here. To bring in the staff we need, we bus in most of our workers from Fort Myers or the
surrounding suburbs. Right now, that bus operates at capacity."
"Then couldn't we just add another bus or two?"

"Okay, let's say we do that: we upgrade productivity by increasing staff. But how does
adding another bus or two—along with all the regular maintenance, drivers, insurance, etc. that
would go along with such a purchase—help us to address the issue of lowering costs?"
Gaye Lynn took a breath and suddenly remembered something she had read during her
initial orientation on Monday. "We handle all of the laundry off-site, right?"
"That's right."

"Then let's bring it on-site. At the hotel, we saved significantly on linen costs when we
started handling laundry on-premises instead of trucking it away. That savings could easily
offset the increased busing expenses and still save us money."
"That's not a bad idea, and we've actually looked into it in the past. But I take it you haven't
seen the island's environmental-impact study. An on-premises laundry operation means an island
laundry operation, and it just can't be done responsibly. Besides, not a single owner wants
laundry facilities in their building or on the grounds."
Gaye Lynn was beginning to understand the differences between operating a hotel and a
condominium resort. Lloyd went on to explain some of the other differences between hotels and
condominiums that would affect her oversight of the housekeeping department:

 At a whole ownership condominium, each and every owner is involved in the

housekeeping function. "They expect to personally know the housekeeping staff that
cares for their unit—and they expect that person to give their every knick-knack the
loving attention it deserves," he said.

 In a resort location, an experienced, high-quality labor pool doesn't just spring into
being—it has to be created and nurtured, through well-designed training and professional
development programs.

 Hotel benchmarks for housekeeping productivity are difficult to apply when you're
comparing a standard, king-size hotel room with a standard, two-bedroom condominium
unit with two bathrooms and a kitchen. "Throw in the fact that one owner may have
covered his walls with floor-to-ceiling mirrors or that a rental guest burned something
greasy in the oven or that Mrs. Johnson has the world's largest collection of miniature
cut-crystal chipmunks, and you can throw out time-based benchmarks altogether," Lloyd
added, with a laugh.

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Just as Gaye Lynn was beginning to wonder if she had made the right career move, Lloyd
smiled and assured her that she had. "Sure, the resort condominium industry is different from
hotels," he told her. "But I'm convinced you've got the experience and the savvy to develop good
ideas that will work for us here. Let's work together to make sure you're familiar with the
operation, then get back to me by the end of next week with your revised recommendations for
the department."

Discussion Questions
1. What steps might Gaye Lynn have taken during her first week to have been better prepared to
work in this new segment of the hospitality industry?

2. How can Lloyd and Gaye Lynn work together to solve the housekeeping problems?

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