Hilton Petaling Jaya Celebrates Housekeeping Week

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. October 14, 2008

OCTOBER 14, 2008. In a bid to recognize the important contribution of housekeepers to the hotel industry, the Hilton Petaling Jaya recently held a week long celebration and job swap effort in conjunction with the International Housekeeping Week. The week is designed to honour the hard-working housekeeping team members, a group of often unsung heroes that includes cleaners, room attendants and officials responsible for laundry, uniforms and linen.

To truly understand the physically challenging duties of the hotel's housekeeping staff, Hilton Petaling Jaya managers tried their hand at housekeeping through a job swap. Rolling up their sleeves, some were seen manning the help desk, taking orders from guestrooms, while others undertook a 'laundry marathon', to fold and deliver towels for 553 guestrooms.

A brave few went for the challenge of cleaning guestrooms. Jane Wong, Personal Assistant to the General Manager, took up the job of a room attendant, who typically cleans 18 rooms a day. She said she never knew how demanding it was to make a king-size bed.

During the week, 17 housekeepers were recognised for their perfect attendance record over a year - some have even achieved this over an impressive 10 years.

The star in the team was Anson bt Othman, a room attendant with the hotel for 17 years, who was voted the most recognized housekeeper by guests through complimentary letters received.

The hotel has 92 housekeepers, 40 of whom have been with the hotel for over 10 years. Norashikin Yusoff, Executive Housekeeper of Hilton Petaling Jaya, said the key in maintaining a substantial pool of long-serving team members is to provide an environment where people are happy to work each and every day.

"We believe that people are our biggest asset and the finest guest experience comes from the happiest team. We maintain an open and friendly communication style in the hotel, from the way we refer to them as a 'team member' to greeting each other on first name basis. This culture embraced by Hilton worldwide helps foster a sense of trust and team spirit," said Ms. Norashikin.

"While an appreciation week dedicated to housekeepers is a wonderful way to celebrate our hardworking team members, it doesn't end there. Hotel-wide, we have a year-round colleague reward program that recognises outstanding team members who go that extra mile. We regularly acknowledge great service and positive guest feedback each month. Sharing success as a team provides great motivation," she added.

For the housekeeping week, the team also got together to give a fresh new look to the housekeeping office, where the dull white walls were given fresh paint in vibrant colours. In addition, games were also organized with special highlight on "Housekeeping Race", in which the housekeeper who spotted the most mistakes in a guestroom was awarded with a gift.