Six ways technology can improve housekeeping efficiency and overcome workforce shortages
With travel now back to pre-COVID levels or higher in many locations, hoteliers are struggling to keep pace with guest demands. Achieving rapid room turnover while maintaining standards for cleanliness and guest satisfaction has become increasingly difficult as staff shortages continue to plague the industry.
With more than three out of four hotels facing staffing challenges, housekeeping consistently is the most common and critical shortfall. Yet, despite offering higher wages and better benefits to attract more staff, having adequate housekeeping personnel remains a pain point across every property classification.
While better wages may be one part of the solution, housekeeping is just a difficult job. Not only can the work be somewhat unpleasant – dealing with harsh sanitation chemicals, trash, and soiled linens – it’s also repetitive and physically taxing.
Some properties are experimenting with AI to streamline day-to-day housekeeping operations. But until there’s a robot that can disinfect a shower or change out linens effectively, we remain dependent on humans for most of the heavy lifting. The good news is there are several technologies that can help ease this burden.
Here are six ways hoteliers can use technology to make housekeeping operations more efficient, less laborious, and a more attractive employment option to mitigate staffing shortfalls.
Autonomous shift scheduling. One of the biggest challenges for property managers is making sure they have all available shifts covered. Meanwhile, many in the housekeeping industry need flexible scheduling. With the high cost of childcare and the need for a second job in many cases, staff may need to juggle around other work, school, or family members’ schedules. Online shift scheduling tools allow property managers to post available shifts for staff to pick up, making it much simpler and faster to ensure adequate coverage and allowing staff to work around other obligations.
Housekeeping applications. Every hotel has a unique protocol for room turnover – a standard operating procedure staff must follow to deliver the experience guests expect. Employee-facing tablet or smartphone applications can provide a checklist of tasks the staff can mark completed as they go. This not only ensures nothing is overlooked; it also helps track the time it takes to perform each step to help identify roadblocks or ways to simplify or accelerate processes. Brands also can use these apps to allow guests to request special accommodations, like extra pillows. Housekeeping staff will receive an alert for that room and check it off when it’s cleaned. These also can be tied into inventory management solutions, allowing employees to reorder supplies with just a few taps.
Guest loyalty apps. Hotel loyalty applications allow hotel brands to build stronger relationships with frequent guests, but these also can integrate with housekeeping platforms, making it easy for hoteliers to provide a custom experience. Guests can use these apps to request service, extra towels, or even customize their service schedule (every three days, for example). This can ease the burden on staff and eliminate the hassle of the front desk having to field guest calls, log requests and then pass messages to housekeeping.
In-room voice assistants. Many travelers are used to using an Amazon Alexa or Google Home device at home, providing a convenient and handsfree way to perform routine tasks like adding to the grocery list or ordering takeout from their favorite local restaurant. Similarly, bedside voice assistant consoles built for hospitality work the same way, allowing guests to speak requests to the device. Because these can be integrated directly with housekeeping task-management applications, requests for extra towels or a refill of toiletries can go directly into the app, eliminating phone calls and messages that sometimes can get lost in the shuffle.
Smart energy management platforms. Leaving the lights and HVAC on when rooms are unoccupied is a huge waste of energy and adds unnecessary extra wear-and-tear on equipment. While housekeeping staff should turn off lights, close the drapes, and reset the thermostat per the unoccupied protocol, it can be easy to forget when rushing to get rooms turned over for the next guest. Automated control solutions can be used to adjust lighting and HVAC once service is complete. When they’re linked into housekeeping software, the adjustments are made instantly via Wi-Fi once the room is marked “done.” This not only saves energy but eliminates the need for housekeeping to manually make those adjustments. That’s one less chore they need to perform in each room, and the minutes saved can quickly add up over thousands of rooms.
Safety buttons. It’s quite common for housekeeping staff to work alone and sometimes in remote areas. In the event of an incident – a run-in with a guest, or even a fall or other accident – they may not be able to call for help. Deploying Bluetooth-enabled safety lanyards allows staff to summon help at the push of a button and some can even automatically detect a fall. Built-in geolocation capabilities alert staff to the exact location of the affected individual, which accelerates response time.
Ensuring a satisfying work environment where staff doesn’t feel overwhelmed and overburdened is key to attracting and retaining talent, especially in the already labor-intensive housekeeping function. Using technology to help housekeeping staff work smarter, safer, and more efficiently can aid hoteliers in improving overall room turnover efficiency, guest satisfaction, employee loyalty, and revenue.
