Industrial Placement Report in Heritage Hotel Essay Example

card promoting environmental responsibility, encouraging guests to reuse bed sheets and towels. This initiative contributes towards reducing the hotel's detergent use for laundry purposes (Heritage Auckland, 2010).

Our performance in housekeeping will be evaluated by a monthly assessment aimed at improving our services. We also participate in an employee recognition initiative dubbed "You're someone Special" (YSS). This is a voucher scheme structured to express gratitude for delivering outstanding guest service (Heritage Hotel Management, 2010). Furthermore, employees who have served the hotel for a minimum of one year will receive an appreciation certificate. Persistent training initiatives, such as the Greet NZ Customer Service Training Programme, Manual Handling Training, and Safety and Health Training, offer motivation and contribute to job satisfaction.

Apart from the routine morning briefing, there is no consistent platform for housekeeping teams to communicate, express concerns, or share innovative ideas related to their work. Regular meetings between management and employees are vital in recognizing emerging issues, introducing new concepts, and updating the team on the latest developments in the hotel to enhance their product knowledge. In the initial two months of assignment, housekeeping seemed rather chaotic.

There were frustrations around using an improper chemical spray bottle, insufficient vacuum cleaners for different floors causing inconvenience among three room attendants, as well as a lack of amenities in the trolley and inadequate linen supplies at work. The management, however, has intervened to rectify these issues, with improvements gradually taking place. Various actions can be taken by the management to enhance the department or hotel. One such action relates to financial management at Heritage Auckland, where either employees are emailed their payslips or payslips are stored in envelopes for weekly

collection in each department.

I would propose that the finance department adopt an e-Payslip system. This system is able to produce a variety of payslips such as hourly, salaried, contractor, and others, depending on the contract type (Krawler, 2010). It's a fitting solution for Heritage Auckland given the varied nature of employment. Above all, this system ensures security and is less time-consuming. Upon the employment of an individual, the payroll system initiates a permanent record. Employees can access their complete payment history with ease. Moreover, an e-Payslip eliminates the need for employees to rely on their managers to forward a payslip request email to finance, especially when they consistently fail to receive the emailed payslip.

Occasionally, the finance department would assert that the payslip had been issued but was received without the envelope, which left some staff members unable to confirm its receipt. Not all employees ensured to sign a form affirming that they had indeed received their payslip. However, these issues are resolved with the introduction of e-Payslips. The digital system reduces paper and toner usage which helps minimize our carbon footprint (RLB, 2009). Furthermore, it aligns with the hotel's focus on sustainability while simultaneously cutting back on printing costs (Mango Tree Resources Pte Ltd, 2009).

Moreover, the online audit trail enables the finance department to effortlessly screen alterations in the database and effectively manage employees' payroll details (Krawler, 2010). The adoption of e-Payslip will also enhance the tech-savviness of the employees. A critical aspect that requires consideration is ensuring cost-effectiveness before system deployment. I propose that the system integrated with multiple functionalities, such as including a work schedule to allow employees to independently review and update

their personal information as needed. Action 2 - The Housekeeping Department.

Heritage Auckland's housekeeping quality has suffered due to numerous issues like guests complaints about room cleanliness, negligent room attendants failing to restock amenities, and rooms not being ready for check-in on time. To boost and lower customer complaints, it's primordial for supervisors to perform daily stock checks. Replenishment orders should be placed and followed up well in advance instead of waiting until there's a shortage on the day itself. Having enough supplies on hand will eliminate any possible excuses by personnel and maintain a high standard of service quality.

The design of services, processes, and the allocation of operational resources can greatly influence the employees' performance (Johnston & Clark, 2008). For this reason, housekeeping staff, such as room attendants, shouldn't be overwhelmed with too much work. In addition to their standard cleaning responsibilities, housekeepers are often assigned an additional weekly "special task" which requires more thorough cleaning like bathroom deep-cleaning. However, these extra tasks frequently surpass the regular cleaning time frame, resulting in staff having to finish their work late. The amount of work does not align with the time given, causing hurried work and consequently affecting the quality of cleanliness.

The implementation of reward initiatives like varying levels of merit pay can serve as an incentive, motivating employees to optimize their job performance to guarantee maximum remuneration (W. Bohlander ; Snell, 2007). Concurrently, training a typical room attendant to perform self-checking responsibilities and be more accountable can reap benefits; acknowledgment acts as a vital incentive for morale-boosting and aids employees in gaining job fulfillment (Kotelnikov, 2010). However, before rolling out such a reward infrastructure, it's

crucial for housekeeping to devise an appropriate budget and make sure that the advantages outweigh the incurred costs.

Measures 3 - HR management strategies wherein the Induction process performs as a valuable knowledge base for newly appointed staff members at Heritage Auckland. Besides organizational matters, employee advantages, and social inclusion, it is recommended to include overall details like location, roles, and working hours of all departments; as well as a familiarisation tour around the hotel (Norton, 2010). Each new hire should be adequately equipped with this fundamental knowledge about the product, which can then enable them to deliver exceptional service to guests.

Many employees are not familiar with the senior management team. Hence, it is advisable to have an organizational chart with photographs of all staff members displayed in the department office. This will prevent any confusion regarding the identity of the higher-ups and enable employees to address them correctly. For fostering a positive organizational culture and enhanced motivation, known as 'the manner in which we perceive and execute tasks here', Human Resources can innovatively adorn the walkway or staff lounge with the establishment's mission statement, motto, and values (Martin, 2006).

Moreover, there should be transparent data related to the career progression possibilities for employees. This can prevent them from operating in a demotivated environment and cut down employee turnover. Additionally, HR needs to publicly acknowledge the employees who have won the ‘Employee of the Month’, ‘Employee of the Quarter’, ‘Full attendance of the Year’, and ‘Best Groomed Employee’ awards on the company bulletin board to inspire others to strive to win these awards.
Concluding, having participated in Qualmark’s inspection process as a part of the "Qualmark housekeeping

team" during my first week, I consider myself fortunate. This opportunity gave me exposure to cleaning standards required in hotel rooms before I started working individually. From this experience, I've realized that a standard operation procedure is invaluable in enhancing work output and quality. Lack of SOP leads colleagues to use varying working methods which may include different arrangements for amenities in bathrooms, for example.

In addition, it is crucial to provide adequate training before the staff officially begins their duties to prevent shortcomings in standardization and work efficiency. Occupying the role of a room attendant, I devoted the majority of my time to maintaining the cleanliness of rooms. I missed out on the opportunity to familiarize myself with the housekeeping property management system and understand the workings of different departments. It's quite disheartening that I have to abandon this goal for the moment. Starting by cleaning six rooms per shift, I can now manage 15 rooms, and in due course, I plan to aim for my next target of becoming a self-checker.

Sources

http://www.heritagehotels.co.nz/Green-Globe/

http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/motivating_incentive.html

http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/content/v07n01/martin_m01.htm

http://www.howtodothings.com/business/how-to-welcome-a-new-employee