For this feature, HM has sourced the views of Kylie Maxwell (KM) from ahs Hospitality; Craig Coughlin (CC) from Luxxe Outsourced Hotel Services and Lauren Anderson (LA) from Silk Hospitality.
Isn’t it easier for us to just hire our own people?
KM: As the largest headcount in any hotel, housekeeping can bring with it associated time and costs such as payroll processing, injury management, recruitment and training. At AHS, we provide all this, and the team are directly employed by us, so all associated labour costs are also managed such as insurance, payroll tax, Superannuation and leave accruals.
CC: Luxxe is proud of the quality of our people and we invest in them and support their development through regular training, which includes 10 hours of training in guest service skills. All Luxxe staff complete customer service training meaning they understand their role in creating WOW guest experiences.
LA: Attracting, training and retaining high quality candidates who are engaged in delivering quality housekeeping services is labour intensive and costly. The housekeeping team is often the largest team within a hotel with a higher churn rate. The outsourced service model provides specialist operational and HR support to the Housekeeping Manager and team in an efficient and cost-effective way.
How do we know we can trust your staff with ours?
KM: We recruit all our team members directly, with face to face interviews. Our compliance checks ensure work eligibility. Our team is to be seen as part of your team and we will participate (at our cost) in any in-house training you require to achieve this.
CC: With Luxxe, you don’t need to be concerned about sub-contractors. We uphold best practices by directly employing all staff. This saves our clients worries about the hidden risks associated with companies that engage in subcontracting and means we are 100% accountable for all service deliverables and all State/Territory and Statutory requirements are fulfilled.
LA: Clients trust our staff as they do their own. Our recruitment and selection processes are robust, and we have a high-performance culture that is maintained through our internal performance management processes.
Will your people be loyal to us and to our brand?
KM: We make certain the hotel standards are delivered and we take away all the training and administration, associated with providing this service. Our team is part of your team – we share the success of your hotel with you and we know we play a key part in that. We encourage you to be part of our team as well and we love our Hotel GM’s attending briefings and our team meetings.
CC: The Luxxe Leadership team is made up of hospitality professionals that have spent the majority of their careers working in the hotel industry with hotel groups such as IHG, Accor, Radisson, Rydges, SPHC, Crown Towers, Sheraton, Hilton, Mirvac, etc. We have worked across all facets of hotel operations including F&B, Front Office, Finance and of course Housekeeping.
LA: We want that too and find that our staff easily and naturally align to the hotel brand and culture as they are immersed in the hotel environment. Building a partnering model that is culturally aligned will ensure that the housekeeping team feel like a part of the hotel’s brand and community.
How are we supposed to keep your people trained to our level?
KM: Training and quality standards are driven to your hotel requirements and are an imperative for us to maintain. We track this through inspections and our Quality Assurance plans.
CC: If you think all your problems with housekeeping will disappear, then you will be disappointed. However, the advantage will be that there are dedicated support personnel from Luxxe who can be there to solve and implement strategies so these issues are minimised in the future and your own team do not have to waste their time resolving these matters.
LA: Silk delivers training effectively and efficiently. This training is often provided in modules that deliver the latest processes and are measurable at an individual level. All of this is fully transparent to the hotel executive.