Executive Housekeeping Today - February 2008 - (Page 17) Other considerations should be made when it comes to foreign-born workers. First and foremost, they are most likely homesick, so as a manager, you should make them feel welcome by celebrating any national holidays, providing food from their home country, and possibly even providing housing options. To become educated on different cultural holidays, visit www.culturegrams.com. or lingo of the facility, the names of all the restaurants in the facility, etc. “Your staff is your best form of marketing for your facility, so each employee needs to be updated on all events, restaurants, directions, etc.,” says Timpa. Other Considerations and Associate of the Month/Year. At McGee’s facility, he makes sure to celebrate Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month for his staff members. In order to be educated on different cultural holidays, Timpa recommends having the books “Culture Grams” or visiting www.cul- turegrams.com. “Culture Grams” is a two-series resource guide on culture/language/holidays about many different countries, and you can use them to research the different cultures of your employees. Also, as in nearly every facility in the world, food in the staff cafeteria is a challenge, especially when the chef is trying to cook for people from a variety of cultures. In order to tackle this challenge, the JW Marriott Dubai, where Reynard works, puts a suggestion box in the cafeteria so the staff can request certain meals from their cultural heritage. The hotel will even have staff members cook the specialty from their homeland on national days and religious holidays, such as Ifthar, Eid, Christmas, and Easter. In addition, the JW Marriott Dubai organizes all visas and residency stamps for their employees. They also have a housing complex, with a swimming pool, gymnasium, restaurant, cricket, (continued next page) Besides training, other considerations should be made when it comes to foreign-born workers. First and foremost, they are most likely homesick, so as a manager, you should make them feel welcome by celebrating any national holidays, providing food from their home country, and possibly even providing housing options. “At my hotel, we make the staff feel at home; as we know that they will get homesick within their first three months, especially the staff who have left family behind,” says Reynard. The housekeeping department at the JW Marriott Dubai makes sure to hold a celebration for each staff member’s birthday, National Days, International Housekeepers Week, Marriott Associate Appreciation Week, length of service awards (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years), The JW Marriott Dubai has a housing complex (pictured right), with a swimming pool, gymnasium, restaurant, cricket, football facilities, social nights, and free Internet, where all 690 staff and their families live. For the families, they also hold events such as a Children’s Christmas Party, Halloween Trick or Treating, etc., to make them feel at home. February 2008/Executive Housekeeping Today 7 http://www.culturegrams.com http://www.culturegrams.com http://www.culturegrams.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.