MODULE IV

I. INTRODUCTION TO HOUSEKEEPING and

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
II. CONTENT SUMMARY
This module covers the responsibilities and roles of members of housekeeping
department. And discuss the importance of manpower/workforce in a business/organization.

III. LEARNING OUTCOME

At the end of this module discussion, the student are expected to:
1. Discuss the roles and responsibilities of the members of the housekeeping department;
and
2. Explain the attributes needed to qualify as a housekeeping staff.

IV. LECTURE NOTES

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Housekeeping department is one of the departments of a hotel that is considered
as labor-intensive. It requires a lot of manpower depending on the size and structure of the hotel.
The number of manpower must be considered very well to be able to do the tasks properly.
Below is an example of the organizational structure of a large lodging establishment.
This is a sample of an organizational chart of housekeeping department.

EXECUTIVE HOUSEKEEPER

ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE
HOUSEKEEPER

FLOOR UNIFORM LINEN NIGHT PUBLIC AREA STORE

SUPERVISOR SUPERVISOR SUPERVISOR SUPERVISOR SUPERVISOR KEEPER

GUESTROOM UNIFORM LINEN NIGHT SHIFT PUBLIC AREA STORE

ATTENDANTS ATTENDANT ATTENDANT ATTENDANTS ATTENDANTS ATTENDANT
The members of the housekeeping department and their responsibilities:

1. Executive officer – as the chief of housekeeping department, the executive housekeeper

heads the entire housekeeping department. He/she ensures that the department functions
and performs well in the hotel regardless of the target guest type, size of the hotel and its
location.
2. Assistant executive housekeeper – along with the executive housekeeper, the assistant
executive housekeeper ensures the overall cleanliness, condition, sanitation, comfort and
ambience of the hotel. He/she also trains the new members of the department while
motivating and evaluating the existing employees. He/she establishes and models the new
SOP for cleaning and decorating. The Assistant Executive Housekeeper is also
responsible in monitoring regular inventory of guest supplies, linen, housekeeping
equipment and property, handling of training, promotion and transfers, organizing flower
arrangements for events and presenting the estimate of the required budget to the General
Manager of the hotel.
3. Floor Supervisor – the floor supervisor’s responsibilities include issuing of keys to room
attendants, coordinating floor operations and tray clearance with room operations,
inspecting of rooms for readiness and then reporting to the front office for the same and
catering to VIP facilities and providing special supplies such as hot drinking water and
baby-sitting provision.
4. Public Area Supervisor – his responsibilities include ensuring that the cleanliness is
maintained at all times in public areas such as lobby, lifts, parking, swimming pool,
coffee shop, conference hall, banquet halls and restaurant among others. In addition, he
also ensures that the concerned operating staff is available as per schedule.
5. Night supervisor – aside from supervising the hotel at night, the Night Supervisor ensures
the following: provision of guest supplies such as water, extra beds or towels, cleanliness
of all the areas at night and operating staff working at night follow all cleaning SOPs.
6. Uniform supervisor – the uniform supervisor provides clean, ironed and fresh unform to
the hotel staff, suggests procurement of any uniforms required, checks repaired linen
from tailor room and keeps track of number and condition of uniforms.
7. Linen supervisor – inspects linen and sends it laundry for washing and ironing. He also
maintains linen influx and out flux register, checks repaired linen from tailor room and
suggests linen replacement if and when necessary.
8. Uniform attendant – collects staff uniform at the end of every shift and maintains them to
be used for the next time, which he also issues. He also maintains the shelves of uniforms
and linens neatly. At present, in bigger hotels where there is a conveyor, they called as
wardrobe attendant. They ensure that the uniforms are properly placed in the conveyor.
9. Linen attendant – some of the responsibilities of the linen attendant include segregating
the dirty linen according to its types before sending it to the laundry, keeping track of
linen count before and after laundry, and stacking linens according to its uses.
10. Guest room attendant – he is formerly known as the chambermaid. But since at present,
both female and male alike can work as a GRA. It is the most popular staff in the hotel
since aside from being frequently seen by in-house guests, they are also asked about
 services and other information about the hotel as well. cleaning if guestrooms, bathrooms
includes changing the linen, making up beds and replenishing guest supplies. GRA also
replenishes the housekeeping cart with supplies and linens for the next shift staff.
11. Store attendant – directly reporting to the storekeeper supervisor, the store attendant
keeps the count of cleaning equipment and items such as cleaners and detergents. He is
also responsible in generating requisition to purchase the required materials.
12. Public area attendant – directly reporting to the public area supervisor, the PA attendant
keeps the public areas in best maintained status. Public areas include parking, lobbies,
lifts and corridors among others. In some establishments, they may be referred to as
environmental services attendant.
13. Night shift attendants – these are staff who perform housekeeping duties during night
time. They directly report to Night supervisor for any hotel safety issues.

TWO TYPES OF HOUSEKEEPING

1. Domestic housekeeping
 Refers to housekeeping maintenance in a house. This may include cleaning of
bedroom, toilet, kitchen, living room and other areas of your house.
2. Institutional housekeeping
 This applies to housekeeping maintenance in commercial lodging establishment
such as hotels, resorts, inns, condominiums, etc.

OBJECTIVES OF THE HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT

1. To ensure a comfortable and clean environment for guests
2. To ensure a pleasant and friendly atmosphere
3. To ensure that everything under the supervision is kept neat and clean
4.
5. Established a good working relationship with all other departments.
6. Ensure that safety and security regulations are made known to all staff of the hotel.

DRESS CODE FOR HOUSEKEEPING STAFF

LADIES
 Hair should be neatly combed and worn in a bun, or neatly tied back or cut short
 No make-up
 Uniform should be neat and clean
 No jewelry, except watch and wedding ring
 Clean footwear

GENTS
 The hair should be worn short and neatly combed
 Should be clean shaven
 Uniform should be neat and clean
  Clean footwear

SKILLS REQUIRED FOR EFFECTIVE HOUSEKEEPING

In order to work effectively, one must know how to work efficiently.
1. Management
 Delegation – work should be delegated to the staff as per their capabilities. The
staff should supervised regularly, and their work evaluated periodically.
 Work management – if several tasks need to be completed on a particular day, the
task need to be prioritized, so as to complete the tasks in order of their
importance.
 Time management – in order to complete a given work in the stipulated time, the
materials required for the task should be kept ready at hand.
 People management – it is an art to work with others. A good and efficient
housekeeper must develop good communication skills, and a pleasant attitude.
2. Budgeting
 A well-run housekeeping department runs at minimum cost to the hotel or other
institution. Hence the good housekeeper has to be good at planning and selecting
equipment and supplies that are good quality and moderate in price.
3. An eye for beauty
 Creating a beautiful and pleasant ambience is one of the objectives of
housekeeping. A housekeeper should therefore have good artistic sense to be able
to decorate the area appropriately.

FUNCTIONS OF THE HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT

the primary function of the housekeeping department is the cleaning and daily
maintenance of the areas under its supervision since it concerns with the proper upkeep of the
structure fittings, and furniture’s which could be the number one reason for a guests returning to
the hotel or not.
It is the only department with legitimate entry to every area of the hotel, and maintenance
regular liaison with every other department head. No other department can function properly
without housekeeping services.
It is therefore necessary to have aware that every department and functions depends on
each other to effective operation. In a hotel there is also head and personnel. The most powerful
position in housekeeping is the Executive Housekeeper, the basic function of this is the one who
directs institutional housekeeping program to ensure, clean, orderly and attractive conditions of
the establishment.
Main functions:
1. Cleaning and maintenance
2. Training of its personnel
3. Requisition and control of the necessary supplies and equipment
4. Paperwork schedules and reports.

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY
1. Guest rooms
2. Halls and corridors
3. Lobby
4. Public rooms and restaurants
5. Offices
6. Stairways
7. Windows
8. Store, concessions and other leased areas

5’S OF GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

1. Seire (SORT)
 Eliminate all unnecessary tools, parts, etc. Go through all tools, materials, and so
forth in the plant and work area. Keep only essential items and eliminate what is
not required, prioritizing things per requirements and keeping them in easily
accessible places. Everything else is stored or discarded.
2. Seiton (set-in-order/straightening)
 Arrange the work, workers, equipment, parts and instructions in such way that the
work flows free of waste through the value-added tasks with a division of labor
necessary to meet demand.
3. Seiso (systematic)
 Clean the workspace and all equipment, and keep it clean, tidy and organized. At
the end of each shift, clean the work and be sure everything is restored to tis
place. This step is ensures that the workstation is ready for the next user and other
is sustained.
4. Seiketsu (standardize)
 Ensure uniform procedures and setups throughout the operation to promote
interchangeability.
5. Shitsuke (sustain the self-discipline/service)
 Ensure disciplines adherence to rules and procedures to prevent backsliding.
VI. TEACHING METHODS AND ACTIVITIES
 Online Lecture
 Online Discussion
 Quizzes

Quiz 3.

In your LMS proceed to quiz 3. Open the file and do the activity as indicated therein. Submit
your output to your instructor email account or messenger. Kindly submit on or before the deadline.

VII. ASSESSMENT
 Quiz
 Recitation
 Class participation