Clean Talk with Rose
By Rose Galera, CEH
Hawaii Hospitality Magazine, May/June 2009
Aloha Rose,
At our hotel, we are reviewing guest room and other cleaning results and are seeking ideas to improve productivity and maintain effectiveness and quality. What ideas can you recommend?
CEH
Aloha CEH:
Work-loading process comes to mind. It’s a systematic approach to determine the hours required to clean an area. With time standards, it considers how many minutes each task will take. It yields close to realistic results of manpower requirements, translated into dollars.
The first step is determining production rates — the times required to complete particular tasks under normal conditions and include job costing, time to task, work measurements and methodology.
Labor is the largest expense. Factors that impact productivity are lack of training, problems and disciplines in processes, and improper supplies and tools.
Variables that affect production rates include amount of space, equipment, frequency of duties, climate, population density, facility activities, time of day, chemicals, supplies and personnel.
Calculating methods include actual testing; time to task analysis; square foot production per hour, per day; by unit method, work by area, piece, daily par levels; counting method, time applied to fixtures, furniture, etc.; benchmarking survey reports; the ISSA 447 Cleaning Times booklet; and benchmarking information from similar facilities.
Examples of information gained are: guest room cleaning, 16.8 minutes per 200 square feet by ISSA 447 Cleaning Times; standard hotel room, 25.15 minutes by Daniels Associates; and hotel room cleaning, 13-15 rooms per eight hour day by CMI Survey.
Information shared here is from studies and hands-on experiences during property openings, operational changes and consulting performed at diverse types of facilities. Mahalo!