"Housekeeping Supervisor"
Assigns workers their duties and inspects work for conformance to prescribed standards of
cleanliness.
Investigates complaints regarding housekeeping service and equipment, and takes corrective
action.
Obtains list of rooms to be cleaned immediately and list of prospective check-outs or
discharges to prepare work assignments.
Coordinates work activities among departments.
Conducts orientation training and in-service training to explain policies, work procedures, and
to demonstrate use and maintenance of equipment.
Inventories stock to ensure adequate supplies.
Evaluates records to forecast department personnel requirements.
Makes recommendations to improve service and ensure more efficient operation.
Prepares reports concerning room occupancy, payroll, and department expenses.
Selects and purchases new furnishings.
Performs cleaning duties in cases of emergency or staff shortage.
Examines building to determine need for repairs or replacement of furniture or equipment,
and makes recommendations to management.
Attends staff meetings to discuss company policies and patrons' complaints.
Issues supplies and equipment to workers.
Establishes standards and procedures for work of housekeeping staff.
Advises manager, desk clerk, or admitting personnel of rooms ready for occupancy.
Records data regarding work assignments, personnel actions, and time cards, and prepares
periodic reports.
Screens job applicants, hires new employees, and recommends promotions, transfers, and
dismissals.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Thorough knowledge of materials, implements, and devices used in building cleaning operations.
Thorough knowledge of effective supervisory methods and techniques.
Ability to plan, assign, supervise, and inspect the work of a large group of subordinate personnel.
Ability to instruct new employees in custodial techniques.
Ability to work from written and oral instructions, to make changes in the work program, and to meet
frequent changes in service needs.
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees and heads of the
various departments.
Housekeeping supervisor job outlook involves managing and performing skilled housekeeping,
laundry and linen services
Duties and Responsibilities
The following are major housekeeping supervisor job duties:
Has constant contact with others in the performance of daily duties including
subordinates, other employees, contractors, and patients.
Supervises and may participate in housekeeping services including cleaning, mopping,
scrubbing, sanitizing the floors and other surfaces as well as the refinishing, waxing and
polishing of floors, tile work and other various floor and wall surfaces in stairways,
hallways, restrooms, offices, laboratories, recreation and locker rooms.
Ensures restrooms are sanitized, cleaned and stocked on a regular basis.
May wash windows and polish special metal fixtures and surfaces such as nickel and
brass work.
Cleans, dusts, and polishes furniture and equipment, washes and polishes drinking
fountains and other fixtures.
Empties waste baskets and trash boxes.
Ensures staff offices are cleaned daily.
Takes inventory of linens and supplies linens to areas on a daily basis.
Supervises and trains employees assigned to area, establishes a work schedule, and
resolves any coverage issues.
Recruits and interviews applicants and makes hiring recommendations to the immediate
supervisor.
Skills and Specifications
Housekeeper supervisor job skills to efficiently work in this field include:
Physically fit as most functions are incumbent of up to 50 pounds
Should be willing to work in the presence of dirt, dust and fumes
Education and Qualifications
Required completion of 10th grade high school
High school diploma or equivalent
Definition and Nature of the Work
Cleanliness is one of the most important features a hotel or motel can offer its guests.
Housekeepers, also known as maids, are the staff members who perform cleaning duties in these
establishments.
Housekeepers may be assigned specialized cleaning duties. For example, most hotels have
laundry facilities for cleaning towels, linen, bedding, and workers' uniforms. Some housekeepers
work only in the laundry area, washing, drying, and folding these items and then stocking the
linen storage rooms.
Other housekeepers only clean guest rooms. An especially thorough cleaning is done after the
occupants of a room check out. Using a large wheeling cart to hold supplies, guest room
housekeepers bring clean linen, bedding, cleansers, and all other necessary cleaning equipment
to the rooms. The housekeepers replace soiled linen and towels; restock soap, tissues, and
drinking glasses; disinfect bathroom surfaces; dust and polish the furniture; remove all trash;
vacuum the carpet; and wash any uncarpeted floors. Before leaving, they check to make sure that
the room is spotless and ready for new guests. If housekeepers notice anything in a room that is
not working properly, they report it to their supervisor, the executive housekeeper. They also
send to the lost-and-found department any articles that previous guests may have left in the
rooms when they checked out.
Aside from doing laundry and cleaning guest rooms, housekeepers replace light bulbs, wash
windows, empty ashtrays, and clean hallways and stairs. Some housekeepers make sewing
repairs or upholster furniture. Others work in lobbies, lounges, and conference and banquet
rooms, where they clean carpets and move and set up furniture. In small hotels housekeepers
usually perform several of these tasks.
Executive housekeepers supervise house workers, purchase supplies and equipment, and prepare
budgets for the housekeeping department. (© Martha Tabor/Working Images Photographs.
Reproduced by permission.)
Education and Training Requirements
A formal education is not required to become a housekeeper, although employers prefer to hire
people who have a high school education. Most hotels and motels provide on-the-job training.
Hotel housekeepers must be able to work quickly and efficiently without invading their guests'
privacy and should have a neat, clean appearance.
Deputize and supervise the housekeeping department along with the head housekeeper.
Allocate bedrooms to be cleaned by the room attendant and check cleaned bedrooms to make
sure they meet the core standard of cleaning. Check bedrooms for maintenance - attention to
details and presentation are very important. Every six months I do the following: re-training
on health and safety and do the risk assessment on staff, re-training the room attendant to the
high core standard of hygiene and cleanliness of the bedrooms, re-introduce any changes on
different cleaning materials and chemicals to be used, ask for staff feedback and give
incentives for jobs well-done.
