Planning to Schedule Workers: A Major Advantage of Housekeeper Team Staffing

Worker Scheduling Scheduling is a major task that must be performed with absolute regularity Hotels, hospitals, and restaurants are not five day, 40 hour work week businesses – things would be easier if they were Fluctuating occupancies and employee needs further compound the scheduling process Team scheduling is definitely easier than individual worker scheduling

Team Staffing Being able to schedule a group of people as one person is a major advantage Being part of a small unit also raises morale – people relate better to team performance than being just one of many Performance is measured on a team basis The more competent G.R.A.s are usually more willing to help weaker workers improve Absenteeism and tardiness is often resolved at the team level

Promoting Teamwork Individuals work toward the achievement of personal goals (e.g., promotions, etc.) therefore cooperation should be part of performance appraisals and rewards Managers should allow everyone to “shine” Managers should consider team ideas as well as individual ideas Reward team as well as individual performance

Teamwork and Swing Teams Sometimes disputes occur between swing teams and regular teams Equal praise and reward to both teams for a job that is well done When problems arise, management should bring both parties together to work out disagreements

Team Scheduling is not Team Cleaning Team cleaning involves “specialists” who perform only one set of cleaning tasks (e.g., bathroom cleaning, vacuuming) Most hotel use zone cleaning where a G.R.A. cleans a quota of guestrooms Team cleaning has been shown to be much more efficient than zone cleaning in schools, office buildings, hospitals, and retail stores Team cleaning is largely untried in hotels, but it holds great promise

Standing Rotational Scheduling and Tight Scheduling First, a standing rotational schedule must be constructed that allows employees two days off a week and provides for complete coverage for a full seven days Second, a tight schedule must be constructed that modifies the standing schedule based on occupancy less than 100%

Standing Rotational Scheduling and Tight Scheduling The standing rotational schedule presented in the textbook allows for: Employees to work a maximum of five days in a given work week with no need for overtime pay Days off will be consecutive Standing rotational schedules differ from regular schedules in that: The workweek begins on Saturdays and ends on Fridays All team members must be willing to work their share of weekends The schedule is on a seven week cycle, advancing one day every week for the seven weeks

The Work Calendar for the Standing Rotational Schedule It is divided into seven distinct work weeks Some weeks the employee has three days off in a row The employee may work five days in a row in one week followed by another day in the next week, working six days straight Positions are scheduled, not persons Fixed positions are individual positions that do not change because of occupancy

The Work Calendar for the Standing Rotational Schedule The linen room supervisor and the linen room attendant should be scheduled off on different days The senior housekeeping aide and the linen room supervisor should not be scheduled off on the same day Although managers do not appear, none-the-less they should not all be scheduled off on the same days

Posting the Standing Rotational Schedule The full cycle of seven weeks should be posted next to a copy of the department staffing guide A marker can be used to indicate the current week in the cycle

Tight Scheduling Systems Tight schedules are operational systems that change with increases and decreases of occupancy The tight schedule only impacts team scheduling, fixed positions are not impacted by occupancy Tight schedules indicate how many team employees are needed, but who is needed may be left to the supervisors’ to determine

Union Contracts and Their Effects on Scheduling Union contracts may prevent the use of a standing rotational system A union contract may demand a full work-week for full-time employees, so the number of full-time employees may be very small Steady extras (workers who are not guaranteed 40 hours) will then be used to make up the difference