Ongoing education and enhancement of management skills are part and parcel of the Professional Housekeepers Association of New South Wales’ (PHAN) ethos. Thus, a special program developed specifically for executive housekeepers by educator/consultant Liz Lycette was warmly embraced.
Held at the Radisson Blu (Sydney) and 11 and 12 June, the program included both theoretical as well as practical sessions.
The day one sessions, headed ‘Environmental Sustainability, Engineering and Project Management’, delivered a clear understanding of current environmental global best practice; working in groups; and coming up with usable checklists for housekeeping.
Working with Engineering covered the setting up of ‘winning’ preventative maintenance programs and working effectively with engineering, complemented with group exercises in setting up and running PM programs.
Project Management included running a small project; working on conducting renovations right up to full hotel openings. Group exercises in using a Gant chart to run a project were involved.
Day two sessions were headed ‘Public Areas, Health and Safety, working with contractors and presentation skills’. They included public area operations – back to basics; reviewing all areas of public areas; and time and motion studies. A group exercise in quality control systems for all PA areas was included.
Working with Contractors focused on the setting up of successful contracts and maintaining quality with external contractors. A group exercise in comparing finances of either outsourcing or undertaking work internally followed.