Chapter-6 :-Inter Departmental Relationship

 No individual department in any hotel can work in isolation .Within the room division ,housekeeping coordinates with the front office and maintenance .

(A.) COORDINATION WITH FRONT OFFICE :-

Rooms are of chief concern to the front office and housekeeping departments .It is important for departments to exchange information on room status .The front office is not allowed to assign guestrooms until the rooms have been cleaned ,inspected and released by the housekeeping department .Each night , a front office assistant produces an occupancy report also called the night report. This report lists rooms occupied that night and indicates guests who are expected to check out the following day .As guests check out ,the front office notifies housekeeping .A flow of information in the reverse direction is also necessary by way of room status report .The front office must be informed about rooms that are ready for occupation and those which are out of service . The room status report is compared with front office occupancy report and discrepancies are brought to attention to front office manager. Keeping room status information up to date requires close coordination between front desk and housekeeping .Sharing information on occupancy levels help forecast occupancy for the year and make it easier to draw up a budget ,establish par stock levels and estimate required staff strength .It also helps to gear renovations and spring cleaning to low occupancy periods ,preventing loss of revenue .The housekeeping department also receives other important information from the front office which require special attention .

(i) VIP IN THE HOUSE :-The information is essential so that the staff can take a little extra care and keen precautions in cleaning and supervising VIP rooms .

(ii) GROUPS IN THE HOUSE :- The group rooming list must be provided before group arrivals as groups tend to move together in terms of arrival ,departure ,sightseeing tours and meals .Group rooming list enables the department to organize their work and have the group room ready on time .

(iii) CREW IN THE HOUSE :- Airlines crew are allotted a set of rooms on a particular floor .Sometimes ,the arrival of a crew and departure of another crew from same airline may overlap .In this case ,it is important for allotted rooms to be cleaned within a short period of time.

(iv)  FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS :- Sometimes the management extends its compliments to a guest with a special gesture of a flower arrangement in the room as recognition of the importance of a person.

(B.) COORDINATION WITH MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT :-

The maintenance department is responsible for the provision of engineering facilities that contribute to the comfort of the guests and increase the efficiency of the staff. The housekeeping department depends on maintenance to keep thing in order . The housekeeping department often take the first step in maintenance function for which maintenance department is responsible .

There are various heads under which maintenance work is alone :-

(i)  ELECTRICAL WORK:- Air conditioning and heating ,fused bulbs ,lights and lamps that are not functioning ,defective plugs and plug points ,short circuits and faulty geysers and mini bars fall under this category .

(ii) BOILER WORK:- This is necessary to maintain a supply of hot water to guestrooms.

(iii) MECHANICAL WORK:- This involves repair or replacement of any faulty equipment such as vacuum cleaner ,ice cube machines etc.

(iv) PLUMBING WORK:- This deals with faulty faucets ,showers ,drainage systems ,water closets etc.

(v) CIVIL WORK:- Any masonry work comes under this head .

(vi) CARPENTRYY WORK :- Broken or shaky furniture ,mirrors and cupboards in less than peak condition and fresh woodwork are all part of this.

Now a days many hotels install computerized maintenance management system <CMMS> to cater maintenance needs .

(C.) COORDINATION WITH SECURITY :-

The coordination is mainly concerned with prevention of fire, thefts and safekeeping of keys and lost property .There are so many security hazards  on the floors that this coordination is very important and the housekeeper coordinates by endeavoring to see that housekeeping staff are aware of the hazards .Housekeeping personnel should also report anything of a suspicious nature to the security staff .Housekeeping personnel have to be alert to risks and seek the security department’s intervention if necessary. The security department  is responsible for conducting training sessions on handling emergency situations for the staff.

(D.) COORDINATION WITH STORES :-

Coordination with stores ensures the availability of day to day necessities of housekeeping. Large hotels have a store attached to the housekeeping department that stocks linen ,supplies etc .Small hotels may stock them in general store except for linen which is sent to the housekeeping department on purchase .Communication with stores is by way of requisition form which housekeeping sends to stores when it requires certain items .

(E.)COORDINATION WITH PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT :-

Housekeeping coordinates with personnel department for requirement of housekeeping staff ,managing their salaries and wages ,addressing in discipline ,following through grievance procedures ,issuing identity cards for employees ,running induction programs, maintaining locker facilities,completing income tax formalities ,effecting transfers ,promotions ,appraisals and exit formalities procuring trainees and organizing training sessions .