Executive Housekeeping Today - May 2008 - (Page 5)

The housekeepers of a Florida resort hotel were often required to watch instructional videos on how to quickly and effectively clean guest rooms. Although the housekeepers indicated the videos were valuable and the housekeeping supervisors felt the guest rooms were cleaned more thoroughly and somewhat faster as a result of the trainings, it seemed that the improvements were not as long lasting or beneficial as anticipated. One problem was inconsistency in retention and application. While some of the training techniques were incorporated, others never made it from the video into daily practice, and other items were simply forgotten. To rectify this, the hotel managers began “surprise” inspections, t The Ten-Dollar Test Toward Customer Satisfaction by Mike Nelson evaluating the cleanliness of the guest rooms based on the instructional information presented in the videos and trainings. The inspections would begin with ten onedollar bills placed on the bed. The manager would then go through the room and look for defects. If, for instance, hair was found on a bathroom counter or in the tub, the manager would pick up a dollar. The inspection would continue, with a dollar reclaimed every time a defect was noted. After the inspection, any money left on the bed was given to the housekeeper as a bonus. At first, housekeepers begrudged these “ten-dollar tests,” which is what they became known as, because these employees would only be awarded $3 or $4, and sometimes less. However, after three or four tests, most of the housekeepers ended up with an extra $9 or $10, and actually started looking forward to the ten-dollar tests. Ultimately, the housekeepers and managers were happy with the results of the training and the surprise tests, as guest room maintenance is a major key on the road to customer satisfaction. Training methods and surprise tests, such as in the above example, can be easily applied to other markets where reputation and customer satisfaction are crucial—including food service, office, retail, educational facilities, healthcare, and other public niches—can greatly benefit from offering employees such incentives. (continued on page 10) ATTENTION ADVERTISERS! YOUR AD COULD BE To view our 2008 Media Kit, please visit: http://www.ieha.org/publications/documents/2008MediaKit.pdf Questions? Call (800) 200-6342 TODAY! May 2008/Executive Housekeeping Today 5 HERE! http://www.ieha.org/publications/documents/2008MediaKit.pdf

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Executive Housekeeping Today - May 2008

Executive Housekeeping Today - May 2008 Contents Executive Corner From Ivory Halls to Four-Star Resorts The Ten-Dollar Test Toward Customer Satisfaction Frugal Housekeeper How Green is Your Laundry Not All Microfiber is Created Equal Feature Article - I.E.H.A. Investigates: Issues in Hotel Housekeeping 2008 Candidate Information IHW Product Information The Green Scene 2008 Convention Information Product Highlights Inside the Industry New Members Joint IEHA/ISSA Members CEH/REH Members Advertisers' Index Calendar of Events Inside I.E.H.A. What I.E.H.A. Has Done For Me

Executive Housekeeping Today - May 2008

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