Executive Housekeeper Journal

The Executive

HOUSEKEEPER

Volume 15

No. 2 PP 322210/00016

The Executive

HOUSEKEEPER

Contents

Volume 15 No. 2

48

Profiles

53

A Sense of Affordable Luxury

55

Top Tips for a Perfect Uniform

58

Spoil your guests … with a hotel feather down bed topper

3

Publishers’ Message

5

PHAN News

10

PEHN News

61

Know the Weapons in Your Fight to Clean for Health

14

SEQPHA News

64

Green Cleaning: Towards Sustainability ROI

17

FNPHN News

67

Think Management: Psychic Income

19

Give Success a Chance

68

From Possum, Sheep and Cotton, to Using Man-made Fibres

23

Green Clean or Green Wash

70

Life Lessons from my Cat

26

Manual Handling Injuries in Housekeeping

72

Hotel Employee Security: Working alone in a guest room

27

Vaccuum Cleaners: On Which End is the Biggest Sucker?

73

Di-Hydrogen Monoxide on the Brain?

33

Keeping Up Appearances: How to Save Money on Floor Care While Maintaining Attractive Floors

74

Product News

38

Crowne Plaza Resort Hunter Valley

40

Colour Trends: What is ‘Now’ and When To Use It

43

Technology Hits Housekeeping

45

Interview with Sharmila Tandon, Director of Rooms, Mandarin Oriental New York

ADBOURNE PUBLISHING 18/69 Acacia Road Ferntree Gully VIC 3156 PO Box 735, Belgrave, VIC 3160 www.adbourne.com Editorial Consultant Max Agnew Editorial Contributor Thomas Johnson

ADVERTISING Melbourne: Neil Muir Ph: (03) 9758 1433 Fax: (03) 9758 1432 Email: neil@adbourne.com Adelaide: Robert Spowart Ph: 0488 390 039 Email: robert@adbourne.com

Front Cover: Crowne Plaza Resort, Hunter Valley

PRODUCTION Sonya Murphy Tel: (03) 9758 1436 Email: production@adbourne.com

MARKETING Tania Lamanna Tel: (03) 9500 0285 Email: tlamanna@bigpond.net.au

ADMINISTRATION Robyn Fantin Tel: (03) 9758 1431 Email: admin@adbourne.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS Enquiries: (03) 9758 1431 Fax: (03) 9758 1432 Email: admin@adbourne.com

Adbourne Publishing cannot ensure that the advertisements appearing in The Executive Housekeeper comply absolutely with the Trade Practices Act and other consumer legislation. The responsibility is therefore on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisement(s) for publication.

Adbourne Publishing reserves the right to refuse any advertisement without stating the reason. No responsibility is accepted for incorrect information contained in advertisements or editorial. (The editor reserves the right to edit, abridge or otherwise alter articles for publication).

All original matter produced in this magazine remains the property of the publisher and cannot be reproduced without authority. The views of the contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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P UBLISHER ’ S M ESSAGE ost of us in this industry have come to care more and more about our planet when it comes to selecting a healthy and efficient means of cleaning by adopting ‘green cleaning’ methods.

Following on from our previous issue, Bridget Gardner from Fresh Green Clean has prepared another fine article on this subject.

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We have also spoken to one of the world’s largest cleaning supply companies – Diversey – on how it views green cleaning.

It has responded here on the company commitment to green cleaning and sustainability.

Everyone will long be aware of how to dress well when out to create a good and lasting impression as your appearance can go a long way with how others perceive you. Ariane Lellmann has taken the time and trouble of providing you with an article on a few tips to help you and your staff look their best.

It’s always great to have input from Executive Housekeepers. So we thank Diane Vidler from Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley for her article on how the new technology Optil system is making life easier for both her and the staff at their hotel.

Our Profiles in this issue include one on Marcus Hanna, General Manager of Sofitel

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Gold Coast. Liz Lycette has also penned a fine interview with Sharmila Tandon, Director of Rooms at the Mandarin Oriental New York.

She has also supplied another interview with Melbourne-born Pamela Batt, whom now has her business in Macau, where she tells of how she recently outfitted some 7500 employees at the Galaxy Project.

We have kept Col Nation really busy these past few issues, and again he has come up trumps, this time looking at the humble vacuum cleaner and providing tips on what works best when cleaning your carpet. Col says he is more than happy to assist with any queries from readers about upholstery cleaning.

As staff injuries can be a problem for any Executive Housekeeper, we have had Konekt prepare something on this topic, and again this firm has delivered, as it did last year with that excellent discussion on OHS with a group of Sydney housekeepers.

We have lots of other articles we hope you find of interest, including some tips on security and recent colour trends. So, until next time, good health and good reading.

Regards Neil Muir

Visit bo www.ad urne.com and click on ‘The Executive Housekeeper’

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PHANNews

PHAN Annual General Meeting 2011 The Professional Housekeepers Association of NSW were very proud to hold their 7th AGM on 14th March 2011 This year the organizers, The Hospitality Design Exhibition, graciously offered to provide the venue at Darling Harbour site during the exhibition. This generous offer provided the membership with opportunity to attend the exhibition to find out about future design trends and products currently on the market.

The AGM was generously sponsored by Protect a Bed, Concept Amenities and A.H. Beard.

The meeting was attended by 27 members. The opening speech was presented by the President Chona Ogilvie in which she acknowledged the support of the sponsors, the passion and commitment of the committee and the need to mentor our rising stars and share our knowledge. She also announced that the Housekeeping Olympics would be a bi-annual event and that this July the event for the whole of the Housekeeping fraternity would be a Christmas in July Party.

Chona also presented our new PHAN Banner which will be used to market the association.

The meeting then followed its course with the review of the previous AGM minutes, the financial review and also the activities of the previous year.

The membership then voted for the 2011 / 2012 Committee comprising of 12 committee members including the Office Bearers.

President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Committee

Ms Chona Ogilvie Ms Grace Esogon Ms Zarife Melick Ms Nela Neves Ms Maureen Jolowicz Ms Lalini de Silva Ms Helen Hofman Ms Elizabeth Vega Ms Kamila Smirski Mr Frans Van Lieshout Ms Karen Kohnke Ms Nenita Poquiz

Following the committee election, there was a brainstorming session regarding the events the members would like to suggest for the upcoming year. These suggestions will form the basis for the first committee meeting.

Finally there was the drawing of the 10 lucky door prizes kindly donated by hotels and suppliers, congratulations to the lucky winners!

The AGM concluded at 5.40pm and the members adjourned after their arduous meeting to dinner hosted by the sponsors. A very enjoyable evening was had by all at Bistro 80, Star City.

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PHANNews PHAN HOTELS TOUR 2011

On May 19th, 20 PHAN members enjoyed full tours of Radisson Blu and Westin in Sydney. We saw rooms beautifully presented as well as the all-important behind the scenes operational areas. It’s always interesting to see what someone else is working with and what facilities they utilize and any great ideas you may be able to implement yourself.

At Radisson BLU Maureen and Cecelia showed 2 groups through their guest rooms, meeting and conference facilities, restaurants and common areas.Their recreational facilities included a lovely pool, spa and gym area and heritage meeting rooms named after members of the Fairfax newspaper family. Guest rooms were complete with a charity teddy wrapped in cellophane in the wardrobe, and the housekeeping department seemed small but completely functional.This seems the standard for all hotels who don’t realize just our function is to their business. j how important p

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After a quick walk the couple of blocks to Martin Place, we arrived to inspect the Westin Hotel. We started with a long trip down the escalators to their conference area which was being prepared for a huge function. Then through their tiered and spacious lobby, up the red carpet stairs into their enormous heritage suite with its four-poster bed and so many bathrooms and lounge areas, with the 20 of us inside it still seemed sparsely populated. Back through the lobby and into the lifts to visit some other suites in the tower, also very generous in their size and amenities. We were going to do a group photo in the bathroom, but no-one wanted to be the one captured on the toilet, so we grouped in the lounge-room and smiled accordingly. We saw their well stocked service areas and spacious department and laundrychute conveyor. We were then treated with a trip to the Executive club for some champagne cocktails with nuts and crackers for pre-dinner snacks.

Then the members took an even longer walk all the way to the Rocks to Phillips Foote restaurant. For most of us it was the first time there and although the do-it-yourself BBQ was a great gathering spot we found it actually ‘ate’ into our usual networking time. ■

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As we go to press PAHN are currently running their Christmas in July party, we will bring you more details and pictures in the next issue.

PEHNNews

International Interior Images hosts The P.E.H.N. (Vic) n Wednesday March 23rd March, Val Harding and her staff from International Interior Images hosted members of The P.E.H.N. (Vic) at their very elegant premises in Port Melbourne. Members were treated to champagne and very tasty canapes throughout the evening whilst perusing and sampling all the international luxury brands including Asprey, Aveda, Elemis, Penhaligons and The White Company all of which International Interior Images distribute. Some members were lucky enough to experience hand massages from Kate from Elemis who had just arrived from the U.K. to assist in the opening of the new Myer day spa.

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Val Harding who is on the board of the “tlc for kids� charity introduced Tim Conolan to speak on behalf of the charity to explain to members about the work they do in helping families in need when children are in hospital. They endeavour to nurture the emotional wellbeing of children undergoing medical treatment.

Assistance can usually be given within 48 hours to families in need and requests can be diverse. Other services include a national distraction box program which contains toys etc, so children can be distracted from needles etc and some unpleasant forms of treatments.. If you would like to make a donation or know more about tlc, their website is www.tlcforkids.org.au. The P.E.H.N. donated $500 on behalf of all members.

Thanks to Val and all her staff for an interesting evening.

Mini Trade Show I would like to say we had a fantastic time at the Mini Trade Show. The purpose of this event is to get housekeepers and suppliers in touch with each other and also for the suppliers to talk about any latest trends. The exhibitors had turns in speaking about their product, as attendees gather around to hear what they have to say. All participated in the trivia questions, generous prizes were received by those fast enough to answer. The prizes range from toiletry hampers, cookie hampers, chocolate platter and wine, show bags, cleaning packs, small appliances, pillows, towels etc. There was something for everyone, as always.

Thank you once again for all who has attended and exhibited, your support is the key to our success. For those who have missed it this time, we hope that you can join us next time. Watch out for emails and mail out invite to our events, also log into our website for any future events. www.pehn.org.au.

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It is that time of the Financial Year, membership renewals are due, and I hope for the past year 2010/2011 members have received their renewal form and gift and hope to receive your membership back soon. We are looking forward to a new year.

The committee is in the process of planning to have a Housekeeper’s Forum at the end of August, this would be a new and interesting event to all Executive Housekeeper’s and staff. We would like to invite everyone, members and non members to participate; we are opening this particular event to non members free of charge as an introduction to PEHN We will have a speaker re: Environmental Issues and our role.

Human Resource topic, which at this stage is regarding how to handle staff issues and possibly OH&S. Please let us know if these topics are of interest and if you have any other topic you would like us to cover, of course we can only cover so many in a session. However, depending on the success of this event, we maybe able to do this on a regular basis. We endeavour to provide you all the support you require and update you with current issues, your participation and feedback is the key to the success of our network.

Coming Events are: AGM September; Charity Event, October; Christmas Party, December.

By Marian Stratford

A LOAD OF RUBBISH

By BARBARA SARGEANT

Litter bins are empty yet there’s rubbish everywhere On railway tracks , in parkland but no one seems to care.

Plastic bags fly everywhere, against fences and up trees In the streets and gutters, they flap round in the breeze.

Walk on any pathway in any part of town You’ll see rubbish everywhere just thrown down on the ground.

There are beer cans and bottles, newspapers and old glass jars On the beach you’ll find tyres, old mattresses and stolen burnt out cars.

If it’s true the ozone layer is looking like a sieve All of us must make this world a cleaner place to live.

We are a lazy generation , that’s a cold hard fact We’ve got to change our attitude and clean up our dirty act.

Look in the back lanes of cities-what a disgusting sight Nobody seems to bother but that doesn’t make it right.

There are supermarket trollies left down by the river Rusty old and broken , while councils seems to dither.

There should be tough litter laws enforced each night and day With fines and heavy penalties so folks will change their ways.

Educate the kids at school , influence their thinking So rubbish won’t be everywhere lying there just stinking.

Every piece of wasteland has rubbish dumped upon If it was all collected , it would weigh a hundred tonne.

Each one of is responsible to eliminate waste pollution So we must work together to find the right solution So if you have some rubbish , don’t drop it where you stand Reduce , re-use, recycle and help preserve this land!

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SEQPHANews onjour from South East Queensland, and it is wonderful to see that Brisbane and Ipswich are recovering after the floods and that all the tourists are coming back.

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It has been quite cold here on the Gold Coast and Brisbane but we will not complain because the southern states would be suffering with a lot colder conditions.

Well we have been having a lot of fun since last edition. During April we had our Easter Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Surfers Paradise with Joyce Percy the Executive Housekeeper as our Host.

A big thank you to the Easter Bunny who made a special visit and kept us entertained throughout the breakfast (Colleen Reynolds) see photos. We had a fantastic turnout with great prizes. Mardi Sherman from A.H. Beard was our guest speaker.

May rolled around to a wonderful sunny day at the Gold Coast Turf Club for our Race Day. We had another full house and so many beautiful hats, with a lot of sore heads at the end of the day. We arranged fashion parade inbetween races with all the models being members of the association. Mel-Rose fashions in Broadbeach provided the clothes for the event.

We have some great suppliers in our association and a big thank you to all of you who provided some wonderful prizes for our fundraising, and also to the Housekeepers who donated prizes. Sheila Gobie the Executive Housekeer from Jupiter’s won the best dressesd female and Gavin Lysaght Executive Housekeeper from Hyatt and Marcus Walker from Upton street dry cleaners were the best dressed males.

A fantastic day was had by all and again thanks you to our Treasurer Melissa for all her organising for a great Event.

Another wonderful Breakfast with a great turnout was June 23rd which was held at Palazzo Versace with Andrea the Executive Housekeeper and guest speakers Rachael Newberry and Shane Thomson from the Gold Coast Institute of TAFE. Both spoke on how they take staff out into different Hotels and train them per each Hotel’s standards and requirements which also include grooming. A lot of these people are then employed by the Hotel that they learnt their skills in. It does save a Housekeeper looking for the appropriate person for the role so much time, and it is free. Since the Breakfast quite a few Hotels have approached the TAFE in regard to the training.

It was a delightful breakfast with many new members who were introduced to all, and all in such beautiful surroundings.

The 12th July Breakfast was held at the Sofitel Brisbane Central with our Guest Speakers being Tony Chisholm the General Manager of Sofitel Brisbane and Judy from Queensland Hotels Association.

Our very special Guest was Keeana and her Mum Glenda who have been living in Brisbane while Keeana is being treated for Leukaemia (see below) Keeana was presented with 2 vouchers for accommodation, one being for a weekend at the Sofitel Broadbeach from Marcus Hanna

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Libby Sharp | President

our new General Manager and another presented by Mark Kelly from Corporate Designs for a weekend on the Sunshine state.

The buffet breakfast was a true delight and with a wonderful turnout, a good time was had by all.

Our Trade show is coming up on the 21st September which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove. We have over 30 Industry Suppliers exhibiting their products with guest speakers and followed by a cocktail party in the evening.

To finish off I would like to tell you about Keeana who is 19 years old and such a strong lady.

Keeana has had Leukaemia since she was 16 and this is the second time she has had to have treatment. Keeana lives in the Clem Jones Leukaemia Village at Coopers Plain in Brisbane. Keeana is from Gladstone in North Queensland and she has not been home for such a long time, along with her Mum Glenda who stays with Keeana.

At present the SEQPHA has been helping Keeana with weekends away and especially near the ocean which she loves for herself and her Mum. BUT you know what, there are a lot of Keeana’s out there and I know we complain about silly things but have we ever stopped to think what these people, their families and their carers are going through. I was speaking to Sandy Sneddon who works full time and is also a carer for the Leukaemia foundation and it was sad to hear that most people with cancer between 25 and 70 years of age have nothing special done for them, it is very sad.

Sandy is going to be our next speaker at our Breakfast at Jupiters, and I know that all our Committee and Members are going to assist in helping these people ages 25–70 put a smile on their face in any way we can. A very big thankyou to all our suppliers and Hotels that have assisted in helping Keeana. “au revoir” ’till next edition.

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FNPHNNews W

Mike Taylor | President

ith adrenalin pumping, nerves frayed and energy at peak levels, the committee of FNPHN put on the inaugural 2011 Housekeepers Olympics’ on Sunday the 10th April at the Police Youth Citizens Club in Cairns and what a show it was.

The afternoon kicked off at 2:30pm with 5 teams, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers from Peppers Beach Club in Port Douglas, the Rydges Roadrunners from Rydges Tradewinds, the Sebel Slammers from Sebel Cairns, Signature Storm from Signature Staff and last but not least, the Walla Walla Weasel Whackers from Cairns Cork & Flooring.

The latter being mainly male, the boys dressed up, ahem, in fanciful clothing which humoured all. Proof is in the photo’s.

First event was the Toilet Roll Throwing, wrapped toilet rolls thrown from a distance of 5 metres into a small wheelie bin, it was frantic throwing with toilet rolls whizzing through the air in all directions which had our “ floor helpers” chasing runaway toilet rolls and laughter coming from all directions. 60 seconds was all they had to capture the most rolls in the wheelie bin. Won by the Walla Walla Weasel Whackers.

Walla Walla Weasel Whackers in action in the Discus Throwing event

This was followed by the “Discus Throwing” event where one member from each team stood in a chalked mark square of limited size with plastic handle while their other 3 team members stood 7 metres away with 60cm scrubbing discs which were then launched with the greatest enthusiasm actually not unlike a flurry of UFOs travelling in haphazard directions, once again keeping the floor runners very busy and again the participants and audience in fits of laughter. Won by Signature Storms.

Bloody hell, it was turning out just as we wanted it to be. Being our first ever event, there was nervous anticipation from committee members about how it would all unfold. Treasurer, Jean Lapthorne was the score keeper which was complex in it’s own right. Well done to Jean.

Rydges Roadrunners “doin the wrap”

The Mop & Bucket relay was hilarious, with contestants pushing a mop in a bucket (on wheels) frantically in and out of a T-shape arrangement of witches’ hats. The speed and precision of some of the contestants was an example of their proficiency in handling a mop.

This also had the audience cheering all on from the sidelines. Again, won by the Walla Walla Weasel Whackers.

Now came the Mummy Wrapping, I have to say here that some of the room attendants should consider a career in nursing as their efforts in bandaging up a standing body from the head down to the feet was without doubt an exercise in precision wrapping. It was a timed event and anxious “wrappers” worked gingerly around their “wrappees “trying desperately not to break the single toilet roll. Alas, all suffered breaks and worked the breaks back into their wrapping.

Methinks that there had been some serious practice prior to the event. A brilliant effort by everyone and won by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers from Port Douglas.

Signature Storm 1st Place Overll Winners

Finally, the Bed Making Relay, this was a difficult task as the beds were on wheels and would not stay still for the relay teams to tuck sheets

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at 45 deg angles. Credit is given to all participants for this event as it was the most enduring under the watchful eye of Barbara Humphries from Trained to the Max and a former Executive Housekeeper. The effort by all team members to present the best “made” bed was outstanding under difficult circumstances. Won by Signature Storms.

Overall winners based on points and times in 1st place were the Signature Storm team, followed by the Walla Walla Weasel Whackers for second place and the Sebel Slammers for third. Again an outstanding effort by all participants. Just a whole lot of fun.

Amongst all the activities, we had a BBQ sizzling with sausages outside the PCYC (Police Youth Citizens Club) venue with soft drinks and water. Thanks to Wayne Lapthorne and Gary Ward for their cooking skills on the BBQ. Walla Walla Weasel Whackers 2nd Place Overall Winners

All proceeds from the sale of the food & drinks were donated to the Yasi Cyclone Victims Appeal.

Thanks also must go to Piccones IGA for donating 200 hundred sausages, Simon George for 5 kg of sliced onion, Pat Wilson for organising the donated Bread Rolls and copious quantities of Wine and the 30 mixed sample boxes of Vodka, (hic!) NQ Engraving for the overall perpetual trophy, Frenkel Textiles for their generous donation, Kerry Dowden from Concept Amenities for their generous donation, Commercial Hygiene Systems (Cleantec, now a division of Ecolab) for the two 20 kg bags of Blue Brite Laundry Powder, Sebel Cairns for the kind donation of a dinner for two at Coco’s Restaurant, Rydges Tradewinds for their donation of a luxurious spa pack, Peppers Beach Club for donating a sumptuous dinner for two at Sublime Restaurant, and again, thanks goes to the Lakes Resort & Spa team who unfortunately could not make it to the day but instead ”passed the hat” around and donated $50 to the Yasi Appeal collection.

Sebel Slammers 3rd Place Overall Winners

Mop & Bucket Relay

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Finally, a terrific thanks to all the committee members who put their time and effort into this great event. The day ended right on time at 5pm and it was unanimous amongst all that the day had been a great success. ■

The Olympic Arena

Give success a chance

By Ariane Lellmann here is a common misconception “Work hard and you will get ahead”, but whether you consider it fair or not, that is indeed an outdated myth. In today’s competitive business environment we must recognise that professional success is built on three critical components; ‘Performance’, ‘Image’ and ‘Exposure’. While ‘Performance’ is obviously still pivotal, it is also the minimum to remain in a job and as such is only the first step on the ladder of success.

The aspect of ‘Image’ is the message you send before you speak, whether it is intentional or not, and includes your physical presentation and confidence projection.Your image is your brand and you can improve your image if you are open to self-improvement. Finally ‘Exposure’ is making sure that others know of your achievement and builds your reputation.

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Does your form of dress and presentation style (even in uniform) communicate your desired impression and image? When was the last time you asked for honest feedback how others see you? Is your self presentation

Deportment, body language and good grooming also impact on your physical presentation. aligned with your desired professional goals and ambitions? This article aims at providing a few practical tips on how you can positively influence your image, realising your full business potential and ambitions. The strategy is to “Dress for Success”!

A few business dress guidelines to enhance your self-presentation and image in the corporate environment include: Suits, combinations and jackets z Always choose a well tailored, dark suit in dark blue or mid- to dark-grey, not brown.

Suits are the most stylish and professional outfit and most authoritative. z Don’t wear slightly different colours as a combination. Wear a darker colour jacket with a paler colour for trousers or skirt. z The jacket is the most important item.

Avoid sleeves which are either too short or too long and fold them up – have them altered professionally to fit you perfectly. z Always dry clean suit pieces together. z Hang up suit jackets on hangers with broad backs and let them air.

Skirts z Skirt length to be just below the knee, where the leg is the slimmest. z Waistbands to be loose enough to insert two fingers allowing it to turn easily; it must hang from the buttocks in a straight line and not curve under.

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Trousers z Trouser pleats are to remain closed, zippers and closings must lie flat. Trousers must be long enough to break in front and fall straight from buttocks. The waistband to be loose enough to allow two fingers to be inserted and no panty line to show at any time. z Avoid stuffed pockets with keys, money or phone (use your handbag).

Blouses and tops z Be careful with blouse collars under jackets, best wear no-collar plain tops without frills and not see-through. They should be made of natural fibres or top quality blends such as silk, crepe, challis, cotton and linen. z Beware of the wrong colour bra under any top and avoid dressing provocatively (no revealing necklines, cover your cleavage).

Dresses z Wrap style and button down dresses are very suited. z Avoid clingy fabric dresses.

Different fabrics and fabric finishes z Suited for official corporate wear: solids or small prints in fine weaves such as worsted wool, wool crepe gabardine, gabardine, crepe, crepe de chine, jacquard. z Suited for smart casual office wear: solids or medium prints in medium weaves such as herringbone, jersey, knit, broadcloth, oxford cloth, cotton pique, raw silk, tweed – patterned, linen, linen/ blends, handkerchief-weight linen, wool flannel, rayon. z Best suited for casual wear only: solids or medium to large prints in coarser, looser weaves such as corduroy, denim, madras, seersucker, poplin. z Remember that the finer the weave and the shinier the fabric, the dressier the garment. Matte finish is less dressy. Avoid mixing fabrics with very different constructions and finishes.

Shoes z Wear clean and polished, closed court shoes with a medium high heel matching your trousers or skirt. Avoid very strappy sandals or heels you cannot walk on. z If you wear tights (preferably tan colour, no pattern) have a spare pair packed in case you snag them. Never wear dark tights with paler colour shoes. Don’t wear tights in open toe sandals, showing the toe seam. If no tights are worn, ensure legs are waxed, moisturised and heels buffed.

Accessories z Jewellery at work: Less is more. Jewellery to be discreet, not dangling or noise making, one ring per hand, good quality watch, one bracelet, one necklace (string of pearls is the most classical, but many fashion beads are acceptable); earrings close to the ear and avoid loop or dangling earrings in the more conservative business environments.

z Avoid visible body piercing or tribal body painting/tattooing. z Complete the 15-point check-up before leaving for work: Count each shoe, your stockings, your jacket and blouse and your skirt (if it is different from the jacket). Bright colours count two points and bright nail polish and red hair each count one point. Count all accessories including bracelets, necklaces, each earring, brooches and scarves. If the number exceeds 15, you’ve overdone it

The fuller figure z Base your business wardrobe on dark neutral colours and prefer one-colour dressing, adding interest with textures and colourful accessories, preferably close to the face. z Vertical and diagonal lines are your friends. z Watch proportion and balance, make sure clothes fit properly and are not oversized.

Know what suits your shape – a few tricks and tips

z Avoid bulky, stiff or shiny fabrics, they should have just enough weight to fall naturally without clinging.

For all figures

The small and petite figure

z Buy one good quality item, rather than five badly made ones.

z Always wear small prints and patterns, narrow lapels or box style jackets, keep trimmings and accessories in proportion to your body size.

z Par down and minimise your business wardrobe – make sure all items can be mixed and matched. z Always buy the right size and items in proportion to your shape. z Have a good seamstress for alterations! z Buy classic items for work – they last longer and don’t go out of fashion.

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And finally do not forget that your deportment, body language and good grooming also impact on your physical presentation.

Remember that employers don’t hire or promote a person on their qualifications or job performance alone, but they evaluate the entire package – so apply some of the tricks of business and give your success a chance. ■

Green-clean or green-wash?

By Bridget Gardner

My work often requires me to travel. Everywhere I stay now, a little sign in the bathroom informs me that my hotel cares for the environment. It encourages me to help them save water, energy and detergent by re-using my towel to avoid unnecessary laundering. Now I may be a born cynic, but I doubt that I am the only person who views this initiative simply as a cost-cutting exercise being dressed in green.

y cynicism increases if I wake with red eyes caused by the air-freshener (that was unsuccessfully masking the smell of cigarette smoke or mustiness), or an aching head due to sleeping between sheets heavily scented with laundry detergent. If I spy a row of dubious looking chemical sprays on the cleaning cart as I leave, my impression of a hotel that takes its environmental responsibility seriously will be permanently broken.

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Clean and green The biggest error marketing departments make when dipping their toes into the world of environmental claims, is to assume that either their audience knows (or cares) less than them, or that they share the same priorities. Having randomly surveyed many

people about this issue, I suggest that this conclusion is quite mistaken.

The environmental issues surrounding cleaning are more complex than say, a fridge. Low energy use is a simple concept to evaluate and explain. ‘Green’ cleaning, however, has a far broader range of interpretations. Fresh Green Cleans’ training and\ auditing programs are based on no less than six areas of concern green cleaning should aim to address: chemical toxicity; indoor air quality; hygiene; environmental impact; energy/fuel use, and waste management.

Saving water and energy is doubtlessly a positive step, but if the little green sign went on to explain that the washing machines were 5-Star energy efficient, the laundry

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detergent was certified as ‘Environmentally Preferred’, and the grey-water was reused on the garden, I would be impressed.

Compliance and the law Risking your guest’s skepticism is not the only reason to avoid promoting meaningless green statements. The Australian Consumer Law has recently tightened its regulations regarding environmental claims to include business practice. The ACCC1 have released clear guidelines which state: “All environmental or ‘green’ claims must be scientifically sound and appropriately substantiated”.

For example, if the water, energy and detergent consumption in the laundry were measured and compared to a period before the introduction of this initiative, the total savings could be promoted along with the request: “By doing this, we have saved X litres of water, X tons of green house gasses and X litres of detergent in a single year.”

OK – I’m listening. But if this claim was followed with: “And the money we saved has been re-invested into 500 trees via our tree planting program”, my skepticism would evaporate – I’m sold.

Third party accreditation is also a great way to demonstrate that you are open and accountable about your green promises.

NABERS2 (National Australian Built Environment Rating System) will assess and rate a hotel’s water and energy consumption.

In the near future, this will extend to waste and indoor environment quality (IEQ).

The Green Globe3 standard for hotels includes among many requirements: Accuracy of Promotional Materials; Health and Safety; low energy and water consumption and waste water management.

Fresh Green Clean4 can assist by providing guidance and tools to evaluate the cleaning products and practices used in a building against best standards in green cleaning, and conduct staff training though Lennox Institutes greenRclean™ program.

Beyond the laundry Why stop at the laundry? Here are six more ways to reduce your environmental impact while cleaning.

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1 Cleaning products certified by Ecolabels must conform to requirements such as ready biodegradability, low ‘chemicals of concern’ and provision of supporting evidence for all environmental claims.

Cleaning products available in Australia can be certified by either: • Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA)5 • Green Seal (USA) • Good Environmental Choice New Zealand.

2 When changing your laundry detergents, consider purchasing dark coloured towels to eliminate the need for bleach or optical brighteners. Purchase products with low or no fragrance as many people (such as me) are sensitive to synthetic fragrances or have children with asthma.

3 Ditto Air-fresheners. Investigate improved ventilation and air filtration systems, or manage malodours using a Clear Air unit (sold by Pink Hygiene) that uses non-pathogenic bacteria to ‘clean’ bacteria from the air.

4 Dust extraction is a much under-rated aspect of air quality. Dust contains a range of harmful chemicals especially if the building is located on a busy street. As vacuum cleaners can pump back out 90% of the tiniest and most harmful particles, it is worth purchasing equipment containing HEPA filters (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) that remove 99.97% of all particles greater than 0.3 microns.

5 Bin-liners can be made from renewablysourced materials such as corn starch.

Why not provide your guests with the option of a recycling bin for newspapers and bottles? Remember that if recyclable waste is in a plastic bag it will be sent to landfill even if placed in a co-mingled waste system.

6 Recycled toilet paper used to mean a compromise in quality and plumbing nightmares but new generation products have overcome many of these problems.

Also worth investigating are renewablysourced paper products made from wheat, sugar cane or bamboo. Look for the Ecolabel certification.

Measure and promote Continue to measure and document your green initiatives, so that you can quantify the environmental outcomes, and promote the benefits of staying at your motel to your current and prospective guests.

1 ACCC: www.accc.gov.au/content/index. phtml/itemId/815763 2 NABERS: www.nabers.com.au/hotel.aspx 3 Green Globe: www.greenglobe.com/ standard-criteria-and-indicators 4 Fresh Green Clean: www.freshgreenclean. com.au 5 GECA: www.geca.org.au/cleaningproducts-and-services.html Bridget Gardner is director of Fresh Green Clean, and industry specialist and educator in the implementation of safe and sustainable cleaning practices. bridget@freshgreenclean.com.au

Manual Handling Injuries in Housekeeping Workplace health solutions provider KONEKT have recently conducted an analysis of incident and hazard data in the Australian hotels industry, identifying housekeeping departments as the cause of 46% of all lost time injuries occurring in hotels.

The analysis of over 2,000 workplace incidents conducted by Konekt’s Professional Consulting Group, shows that housekeeping is the most affected of all hotel departments, especially when it comes to serious manual handling injuries. In fact, a staggering 58% of all lost time injuries were as a result of manual handling. This is in comparison to data which suggests that up to 40% of all workplace injuries across all industries are caused by body stressing.

A review of workers’ compensation data also showed that manual handling injuries in housekeeping account for almost 50% of total claims costs.

It goes without saying that achieving reductions in the frequency and severity of body stressing injuries within housekeeping can have a dramatic impact on a hotel’s workers’ compensation premiums. What can you as the Executive Housekeeper do to better manage these types of incidents from occurring in your workplace?

Konekt have found that drilling into incident data is one way of determining where your problem areas lie, but only a robust incident reporting system will provide quality data.

Looking for factors such as the root causes of injuries will help to target re-occurrences from happening again. In Konekt’s analysis, it was discovered that 38% of all incidents in housekeeping had behavioural issues as their underlying root cause. Behavioural issues include not following procedures, being careless and not paying attention to

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surroundings. These types of issues can only be addressed by implementing a strong safety culture where workplace health awareness is a part of the daily routine of housekeeping.

Another strategy is to target known risks and be especially vigilant about them. In Konekt’s experience, many high impact injuries involve the use of trolleys, moving beds and furniture in hotel rooms, cleaning baths and shower screens and handling heavy loads of laundry.

As an executive housekeeper you should consult with employees to identify concerns or issues to be addressed, and observe and inspect tasks and work areas. The collective experience of your entire housekeeping workforce provides invaluable information, and engaging your staff will help to build and maintain a positive safety culture.

Manual handling involves the lifting and carrying of weights. It can also include any activity requiring the use of force exerted by a person to lift, push, pull, carry or otherwise move or restrain any moving or stationary object. Ensure your housekeepers’ actions and movements will not lead to any discomfort or pain. Manual activities should be performed smoothly and with control in a balanced and comfortable position. Activities should be free from extreme ranges of joint movement, repetitive bending, twisting and overreaching.

It is also important to avoid repetitive tasks over long periods. Not only does this lead to a reduction in mental alertness (and increased the chances of injury), what is referred to as static muscle loading can result in reduced oxygen to those muscles – the result of which is muscular pain.

Some common manual handling risk factors are: • Bending, twisting, reaching or crouching • Strained or unsafe work procedures

• Heavy physical work and forceful movements • Repetitive movements • Poor equipment design or lack of equipment • Slips and trip hazards • Lack of time to work in a safe manner KONEKT says the use of risk assessments can help in avoiding injuries occurring and utilising early intervention when an injury occurs assists with getting injured employees back to work sooner.

According to Konekt, there are three key stages in manual handling risk assessments.

The first step is to identify risk factors in the workplace, the second is to develop a detailed assessment of specific risk factors, and the third is to implement control measures to eliminate or reduce the risk.

In the control stage, any tasks or work areas determined as a risk should be controlled with all possible measures. Managers might need to redesign the task completely to eliminate the unsafe factors. If redesign is not feasible, mechanical aids and assisted lifting are alternative controls. To ensure risks are properly controlled, employees might need improved training and supervision in their tasks.

Konekt have worked with hotels who have appointed “floor champions” to monitor and instruct housekeepers on manual handling during their shifts, and introduced warmup and stretching sessions prior to work beginning.

Like to know more? For more information, contact your local Konekt branch or visit www.konekt.com.au ■

VACCUUM CLEANERS On which end is the biggest sucker?

By COL NATION

If you are about to tuck into your lunch then stop reading after the next three paragraphs.

My daughter worked her way through university selling small appliances. She was known as the vacuum cleaner specialist as she sold lots of them. Having grown up with a father who was not only a service technician for a large manufacturer of vacuums, but one who started a carpet maintenance business many years ago and is still involved in the carpet maintenance industry today, she understood that size doesn’t matter. It’s not all about the number of Watts, it is efficiency and effectiveness that matters. It’s also about what fits the area being cleaned and how fast it can remove soils.

To understand vacuums better we need to understand what it is we are actually doing with them. Are you using it to improve the general appearance of an area, or are you actually trying to remove dirt and maintain a carpet’s value, or are you cleaning for infection control purposes? If it is for the latter two then read on. If you don’t care either way then go back to work and think about how you are going to pay for your new carpet when it wears out prematurely, or how you are going to deal with your next Nora virus outbreak.

Here’s the yucky bit. I want you to think about what soiling in a carpet is made from.

Yes, some of the soil will be tracked in on our feet. This soil will be sand and grit or concrete dust from the foot path. It could be

oily residues from the bitumen car park or leaf litter from the grass and plants outside.

If soiling were confined to just these few types of soil then a simple door mat will help reduce the soiling in a carpet and just cleaning the door mat daily will end our problems. But we have to consider the soil that is generated from within the building as people go about their daily lives. This soil can include food and beverage spills or cooking fumes. It can be dead skin cells that are shed in the millions by each person each day or the mucous that is expelled when people cough or sneeze and depending on what type of establishment you are in it can contain other bodily fluids and solids as well.

If you are eating right now you are probably thinking “I should have taken note of Col’s

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first sentence.” If you are not eating at the moment you are probably thinking “Why do we have carpet if it is going to trap all of this horrible dirt?” Funny enough it is exactly this reason that carpet is such a great floor surface. It is a great place to trap and hide soils and hold them until we can get around to cleaning.

Because carpet is a 3 dimensional surface it can trap and hold soil down at floor level where it is well away from our noses. As anyone involved with infection control will know, breathing in dust and the micro-organisms that live on that dust is one of the fastest ways people can pick up nasty diseases. So a surface that traps the soil at floor level will be better to help control the spread of infections. A hard, two dimensional surface, will allow the dust to keep circulating throughout the building spreading infection from one area to another.

But eventually this carpet soil trap gets full and it needs to be emptied so it can continue its soil trapping function. We fix this on a day to day basis with a vacuuming maintenance program.

Look down at the floor now and see if you can see any soil. What did you see? A paperclip, three bits of paper, a staple, a bit of fluff and some black things that we hate to think what they are. Is that all the soil that you can see? It probably is, because most of the general soil in a carpet is microscopic and cannot be seen by the naked eye. But it is precisely this microscopic soil that is the cause of airborne pathogens, as well as the overall grey look that you see in a dingy looking carpet.

The real job of a vacuum cleaner is to be able to dig this soil out from within the three dimensional surface and not just pick up the pesky paperclips and paper fragments.

So which type of vacuum cleaner works best? If you are only interested in picking up the visible surface litter then go and grab a lawn rake or a broom and a dust pan and you can stop reading now because that will do the job quickly and effectively and it will save you money on a vacuum cleaner. If you are wanting to get serious about hygiene control and maintenance to extend the life and maintain the appearance retention of your carpets, then read on.

just one pass with an upright vacuum, so there is six times as much work and of course more chance of injury from repetitive strains.

The action involved to use a suction cleaner is to hold the wand, and push and pull it several times over the same section of carpet.

A push pull action is used to provide agitation to loosen the soil from the fibres and the suction then lifts the soil and deposits the dirt in the bag.

An upright vacuum has a rotating agitator bar that provides the vigorous agitation, and again the vacuum lifts the soil and deposits the dirt in the bag. The operator only has to manoeuvre the machine while it does all the hard work. To correctly use an upright vacuum cleaner you simply hold the handle at a comfortable height against your hip.You simply walk forward. When you reach the end of the pass you simply turn around and walk back with the machine happily doing its job. This is a lot less stressful on your back and covers a larger are in a shorter time while providing a deeper level of clean.

Those who are serious about carpet maintenance will have a good quality upright vacuum as the primary machine.

Does size really matter?

A bigger vacuum may simply have a larger container for the dirt. It may be no more powerful or efficient at picking up dirt than a smaller machine, but you will have to empty it less. If you are cleaning up a building site this may be handy, but in a health care situation it can simply mean that nobody bothers to check the dirt container and festering soil remains in the machine for a long time.

There are two main types of vacuum cleaner. Ones that simply suck air, and ones with a rotating bar in the floor tool that provides agitation to release soils so that the suction can pick up the dislodged soils. These may come in various shapes and sizes. We can have some the look like buckets with a lid, sort of a mini R2D2 unit with a long elephant like trunk. There are others that we strap on our backs like a jet pack. Then there are the uprights that are self contained. There are even some that we ride around on like a really tall dodgem car.

Suitability of equipment will depend on the areas being cleaned, for example, back packs are great when we have confined spaces such as stairwells, but when we have larger clear areas such as hallways and general use areas, you can’t beat an upright machine for effectiveness and efficiency.

Back injuries are common in the cleaning industry. Mopping floors and vacuuming form a significant percentage of the cause of these back injuries. This can be caused by incorrect use of a vacuum cleaner or poor choice of equipment to suit the purpose. An example is where people choose a back pack vacuum and use it over large areas. It takes around six passes with a suction cleaner to equal the effect of

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Is a 2000 Watt machine better than a 1000 Watt machine? Not necessarily. A Watt is a measure of the power consumed by the machine but it does not measure the effectiveness or efficiency of the machine. A poor quality electric motor could produce 800 Watts of noise and 800 Watts of heat leaving only 400 Watts of useable power for vacuuming. Another factor is the loss of vacuum by leaking through loose fittings or leaking hoses or restrictions in airflow by poorly designed airflow passages.

An upright vacuum doesn’t need high power use to be efficient. It only needs

healthcare environments. This germ laden dust is simply picked up from the floor and jetted into the air along with the bacteria which can float around and settle on surfaces, food and worst of all, open wounds. So it is important to ensure that a vacuum cleaner has High Efficiency Particle Air (HEPA) filtration so that it removes this finer dust from the air and not just recycling the dust.

The Australian Standard 3733/1995 “Textile Floor Coverings –Cleaning and Maintenance of residential and commercial carpeting” states deposit the dirt into that vacuum cleaner filtration should be down An upright vacuum doesn’t need high power to 0.5 microns. What’s a micron? A human hair use to be efficient. It only needs enough the bag. is up to 20 microns in diameter. The human airflow to deposit the dirt into the bag. eye can see down to about 10 microns. A The agitator is doing the soil lifting. This will particle of 10 microns in diameter is generally be far more efficient and effective as a bucket the size of the little sparkle you see floating in the air when sun machine with 2000 watts of power being consumed. shines through a window. Each of these little bits of dust can harbour The next thing to consider is air filtration. If the vacuum is very bacteria, and these are the ones you can see. efficient at picking up dirt, but then has poor filtration, it will simply Just to compound the issue, some poor quality equipment may be filter out the paperclips and bottle caps and recycle the finer soils sold as having HEPA filtration but the leaks in the enclosure can back into the air. This fine soil can stay suspended in the air for bypass the filtration system and make it ineffective at removing the hours and building occupants will be breathing this germ laden dust finer soils. long after the cleaning operation. This is especially important in the

enough airflow to

To Bag or to be Bagless? That is the question.

The bag is not only there to collect soil. It is part of the filtration system that cleans the exhaust air. Poor quality bags may have larger pores through which the air passes. The finer the holes, the better the filtration and the faster they will clog up with soils which then limits the airflow which reduces the effectiveness of the machine. A multi stage filtration is often required to ensure efficient passage of air with maximum retention of soils.

Bagless vacuums are popular in the household range. These are a real concern in the workplace. While they may tick all the boxes in regard to efficiency and effectiveness, they are a real hazard when it comes time to empty the dirt container. As you bang and shake the container the dust (and Germs) will turn into a large cloud of dust that the operator is likely to breathe in. A vacuum cleaner fitted with disposable bags will be much safer to use.You simply unclip the bag and cover the hole with the little sticker and then drop the bag in the bin and fit a new bag. This is much safer for the operator and of course stops the dust blowing all around as the vacuum cleaner is emptied.

How often should you empty a vacuum? It should be emptied when the bag is around 2/3rds full. If the bag is allowed to fill completely it blocks the airflow. When you have no airflow, the machine won’t pick up soil, it will be just making noise and you will be wasting time and money.

So think about these things and decide what it is that you are trying to achieve. If you are wanting a healthy indoor environment and wanting to maintain your carpet in the best possible condition and want to do it efficiently then invest in a good quality machine that is fitted with HEPA filtration, disposable dust bags and has an agitator bar. Agitator heads can be purchased separately for suction only machines.

Col Nation is a cleaning industry trainer with a long history of experience, especially in the field of carpet and upholstery technology and maintenance. Colin is a trainer with the Daniels Associates of Australasia Pty Ltd and is the Australian director of the international WoolSafe Organisation which is a certification body for the carpet industry.

The Daniels Associates conducts training in Hospitality with a focus on cleaning for health. Check out www.danielsassociates. com.au for more information on training options. www.woolsafe.com.au can provide a list of highly qualified carpet cleaners that can provide a range of services to both domestic and commercial carpet owners.

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Keeping up appearances How to save money on floor care while maintaining attractive floors

By Kevin McNulty ne of the first things people notice upon entering a facility is the floor, and if those floors aren’t clean, it reflects poorly on the facility. It can be extremely challenging to keep floors in high-traffic areas looking shiny and attractive, especially given shrinking facility maintenance budgets. After heating and cooling, facility maintenance is generally the second largest cost for building owners. Many housekeeping professionals have been tasked with saving money without sacrificing the appearance of the facility. It seems like a “Catch-22,” but managing floor maintenance budgets while meeting the expectations of customers and building occupants is fully possible.

O

Following are eight tips to help reduce the cost of your floor maintenance program while still keeping up appearances.

1. Explore new technologies in floor care: Advances in technology continue to improve and offer floor care professionals new options. New technology doesn’t necessarily connote expensive – rather, the latest technologies in floor care can actually save time and money. Identify coatings and finishes that will maximize your investment. This means not just considering the initial cost, but also taking into account the lifecycle and payback over the product’s lifetime.

High-performance floor finishes, such as ultra-durable floor finishes, are relatively new products that maximize value by reducing maintenance requirements and cutting out extra steps. Traditional acrylic floor finishes require daily dusting, damp mopping, and/or auto-scrubbing, in addition to weekly burnishing, quarterly scrubbing and re-coating, and annual stripping and re-finishing. However, ultra durable floor finishes eliminate the need for restorative types of maintenance, and one application can last for as long as two years. Ultra-durable floor finishes require only daily cleaning and damp mopping, and/or auto-scrubbing, significantly

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reducing maintenance time, material, chemical, and labour costs. This can reduce hard-floor maintenance costs by up to 50 percent, compared to traditional acrylic floor finishes, and still provide a stunning appearance.

The reduction in floor downtime is also beneficial because when an area is out of

use, it’s not generating revenue for the facility. Look for systems with hydrophobic protective finishes that will resist water, stains, and dirt. Traditional hydrophilic floor finishes that contain wax particles and surfactants are affected by water and cleaning chemicals, causing dirt to be trapped in the finish surface.

2. Reduce the frequency of maintenance activities: Look for products that reduce the frequency of maintenance activities, such as burnishing, scrubbing, re-coating, stripping, and refinishing. These tasks are the most expensive floor maintenance activities. In fact, by reducing or eliminating these tasks, a facility can save anywhere from 40 to 60 percent in floor maintenance costs.

33. Utilize a matting system: It can cost more than $500 to remove one pound of dirt after it has been tracked into a building.

Remarkably, up to 24 pounds of dirt can be tracked in by just 1,000 people coming through a facility’s entrance every day over a 20-day period. Placing effective walk-off matting near doorways and entrances will collect a large amount of this dirt, while prolonging the life of the floor finish.

Without adequate matting, 42 percent of a floor’s finish can be removed within the first six feet of an entrance after only 1,500 people have walked through the door. Although the matting will require an up-front investment, it can save money in the long run by offsetting the frequency of stripping and refinishing.

44. Trade in string mops for microfiber mops: Throw those string mops away!

Switching to microfiber mops with on-demand chemical systems can help reduce chemical usage in a facility by up to 80 percent compared to traditional mop and bucket cleaning. Reduction in chemical use results in immediate cost savings. Microfiber mopping systems are also more sanitary than traditional mops because the flat mop is changed when it becomes soiled, and the cleaning solution is dispensed directly onto the floor, eliminating mopping with dirty water.

Compared to a traditional mop and bucket, this method improves the quality of cleaning, while also reducing labor time because the mop water doesn’t have to be changed.

5.

5 Use backpack applicators to apply floor finish: When applying a floor finish, use backpack applicators instead of a mop and bucket. Backpack applicators can reduce floor finish application time by up to 70 percent versus traditional mop and bucket and can actually reduce consumption of the finish by as much as 35 percent,

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leading to tangible savings by reducing the amount of floor finish needed.

With both guests and facility

8. Invest in productive floor cleaning machines: Invest in the largest machine possible that is effective for your facility. The larger and wider the machine, the more productive it will be, reducing labour time and long-term cost-of-ownership. Some machines can even reduce the amount of cleaning products required.

Also, consider the work force and facility needs. Purchasing, a ride-on machine may be the best choice.

6. Implement a chemical management occupants judging a building’s system: Chemical management systems that utilize dispensing systems appearance on cleanliness, to accurately mix and dilute cleaning concentrates are a great way to help it is important to maintain avoid using too much cleaner due to human error. Accurately diluting clean, shiny floors . chemicals not only saves money on cleaning supplies, it also reduces maintenance time spent fixing the results of over- or under-diluted cleaning solutions.

With both guests and facility occupants judging a building’s appearance on cleanliness, it is important to maintain clean, shiny 7. Eliminate traditional acrylic floor finish on certain surfaces: Stone floors . On the other hand, budgets are shrinking and facility managers floors – such as terrazzo, marble, and polished concrete – may are being asked to cut costs wherever possible. Try implementing not require a floor finish at all. These surfaces can be cleaned and some of these tips to minimize the cost of the floor care program polished using diamond-coated floor pads in place of a finish. without sacrificing the appearance of your floors. ■ These floor pads maintain the surface’s shine and may be more cost-effective than other methods of stone floor maintenance.

• Kevin McNulty is the business development manager for hard floor Additional shine and stain resistance can be achieved with new systems for 3M’s Building and Commercial Services Division. For more high-performance floor protectors. information, visit www.3m.com/floorfinish

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Crowne Plaza Resort Hunter Valley Escape and explore NSW’s famous wine country with a getaway at the Crowne Plaza Resort Hunter Valley.Take in the hotel’s on-site orchard, 18-hole golf course, 24-hour gym, tennis court, two restaurants, outdoor spa and pool and the only complimentary supervised kids club of any hotel in the region.

Located in the midst of the region’s best wineries, Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley offers a gastronomic getaway just two hours north of Sydney.

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Colour Trends: What is ‘now’ and when to use it

By AMANDA BEAZLEY | Managing Director and Designer, John Beazley & Co Pty Ltd Hotel/Motel Fitout Specialists www.johnbeazley.com.au

It’s always interesting to see what colours will filter into the Interior Design Colour Palette by what we see on the latest Academy Award Red Carpet. However unlike a new dress, it’s not that easy to update your Room Décor, especially when we are talking about an Accommodation Property. Let’s face it, not many properties have the budget to refurbish every time the trends change, but don’t despair, if you want to be fashion forward and stay in tune with current trends there are ways to do it. So lets take a look at the current trends, and where they may be used.

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BLACK AND WHITE – “Silver is the new shade of Black” Black and White Colour Schemes are back.

To mix it up a little however we are using lots of metallic, from Gunmetal to Icy Silver and everything in between. What’s more, ramp up the volume on the “Bling”. Metallic fabrics and paint are popular and are readily available in a huge variety. Specialty and unique fabrics are great for feature pieces. Beads and sparkle are also used as accents.

Where to use it: A Black and white Colour Palette has longevity because you can always accent it with different colours. To achieve this particular look without limiting the life span of your design use Metallic paint on a feature wall or silver upholstery on one specialty piece such as an arm chair. Paired back with an elegant chandelier style lamp, add a beaded or ‘blingy’ bed pillow and you

have created modern sophistication to any black and white colour scheme. Charcoal and Ivory are also great alternatives to the classic black and white palette. Like anything, don’t go overboard or the elegance turns into tacky very easily.

NEUTRALS – “Go Nude!”

In the Neutral Colour Palette we have moved away from brown tones and gone to pink tones. Cream, Ivory, Nude pink, Fleshy peach are all colours in this Palette. This again has been paired back with the touch of bling and metallics to create a very soft and elegant look.

Where to use it: This Nude Colour Palette is difficult to use in a Commercial Application as it is very light and we all know what light colours are like to clean.

However it can be used as your base such as paint, curtains, faux leather bedheads, timber or even feature cushions and then pair it with darker colours for your upholstery and carpet.

PRIMARY PALETTE – “Be bold and Extreme!”

Anything goes with the other colours of the spectrum as long as it’s bold or on the other end of the scale, soft and powdery, from one extreme to the other.

The Blues! Luminous Sapphire Blue is the colour of the moment and is very strong and eye catching, and on the other end of the spectrum soft powder blue is very modern and elegant and is almost classed in the Icy Silver Palette abovementioned.

Pink to Red! Not much pink is about unless we refer back to the soft fleshy colour in our Neutral Palette, but Red is Ripe! Fire Engine Primary Red and Orange Tomato Red is very popular but only used as a flat colour, no Metallic here. We can even stretch it to include a Grape or Ruby Red. These are great accent colour and can add a bright modern and eye-catching element to an otherwise subdued colour scheme.

Go Green! Popular Green Hues are slightly off beat, that is instead of your Primary Green, the Trend is either Teal or Chartreuse Lime.

Very specific trend colours and whilst look fantastic in a Colour Scheme may be best used as features such as a paint or cushion that can be easily replaced as it could date quite quickly.

Where to use it: My advice is always to look at your clientele, property, climate and environment to use as inspiration for your Colour Scheme. That way it is specific to you and your property and not the ‘Trend of the Moment’ and therefore will have longevity.

However you can stay up to date with trends by splashing colour at an otherwise Neutral Colour Scheme. As mentioned; a feature painted wall, throw rugs and cushions, artwork on the wall and bedding are great elements to use with your ‘Trend Colour’ and can completely transform your Cololur Scheme. It’s also a great idea to do this for the season, red for winter green for summer. Whatever way you do it or your budget, be true to the type of property you have. It does not work for example to use our City Slick Metallic Black and silver trend if you own a rustic mountain property.You would be better to draw inspiration from the elements outside your door. ■

For further advice or free consultation please contact John Beazley and Co Commercial Fitout Specialists.

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Technology Hits Housekeeping

By Dianne Vidler | Executive Housekeeper | Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley

More than likely many of you would have started Housekeeping the same way I did, cleaning rooms with a hand written piece of paper stating “D” or “S” meaning “departure clean” or “occupied clean”.

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s I was soon promoted to Supervisor I realised that before I as a room attendant received my hand written piece of paper with the rooms I was to clean for the day, the Supervisors would have to decipher a whole heap of room statuses that were listed on the paperwork that had been printed from the night auditors on a dot matrix printer.

A

Turning on a computer for the first time in my first Supervisory role was absolutely daunting, the computer a foreign object something only “office people” used, panic

stricken by the thought that I no more knew how to turn a computer on or off, but now thoughts of being an office person caused my throat to tighten and pains in my chest, lucky enough as you all know supervising a housekeeping team is far from an office job, but yes can be technical at times.

Step by step I began to realise the computer programs that were continually added to my computer and the processes that changed along the way were creating efficiencies within the work place, I’m an advocate for efficiencies as workloads

are not getting any smaller, stepping into a position where staff are spread over hectares I have become more aware of the difficulties of being able to locate staff, unable to catch a lift to a floor and walk 50 meters to locate a staff member the process became a lot more difficult where by a buggy is required to locate my staff and a good set of heels to say the least.

One-touch optimisation

Optii Keeper was introduced to me as a tool that creates efficiencies within the Housekeeping department and allows Reception to view room cleaning schedules so guests aren’t having to wait for their rooms to be cleaned

A central dashboard provides a realtime overview of cleaning progress and whereabouts of every room attendant for effective supervision

Housekeeping managers all over the world understand the challenges in managing, and improving, productivity of room attendants.

Optii Keeper provides a new approach to managing the cleaning workforce through:

Optii Keeper intelligently forecasts exact man-hour requirements for a future date, based on the nature of guests in-house on that day. Leave expensive over- or understaffing behind you

The daily cleaning allocations and room assignments are automatically created within 10 seconds. Fully optimised for lowest cost, turnaround of vacant-inspected rooms and with consideration for guest arrival and departure times

Effective Supervision

Accurate Rostering

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Training

Housekeeping Communication

Effective training results in more competent room attendants that clean better, faster

Targets

Optii Keeper handles 95% of changes automatically, so there is no need to find room attendants to change the boards. For those occasions where you need to contact them anyway - send them a message without leaving the office

Optii Keeper provides your cleaning and supervisory team with tangible targets to work towards

Load Balancing

OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS Rooms come back quicker Because Optii Keeper dynamically optimises the cleaning AND inspection processes, inspected rooms come back clean quicker for arriving guests.

Front Office Communication Part I Optii Keeper continually monitors your PMS and knows when 105 requested a room move or 657 checked out a day early. No need to wait for a phone call - Optii Keeper acts on the change automatically and updates the room attendants schedule on their IPod. Without manual intervention.

Front Office Communication Part II When a guest arrives when the allocated room is still dirty, there is no need to pick up the phone to housekeeping. The Front Office dashboard provides a real-time overview of the day’s activities: Reception can see when the room will be ready and deal proactively with the situation. Without taking the eye off the guest.

Some of the Housekeeping staff from Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley.

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Room attendants love the fact that they receive a fair share of work every day. The credit system allocated them equal rooms every day, sometimes all conference rooms, other times all family rooms - resulting in extremely stressful days, while other days are easy.

Now they get an even share, based on the guest’s habits.

Linen and Amenities Tracking Room attendants specify how much linen was replaced and amenities restocked in each room. Making your stocktake a breeze.

Overall, Optii Keeper eliminates 95% of cases where staff have to pick up a phone or supervisors need to travel across floors to find a room attendant, resulting in considerable productivity improvements in itself.

So technology has caught up with Housekeeping and about time I say, every time I hear about any process or system that could help improve performance or efficiencies I think to my self an open mind will create the opportunity to be a part of an impressive effective team. ■

Interview with Sharmila Tandon Director of Rooms Mandarin Oriental New York

hen Liz Lycette is anywhere business or holiday she will always take the opportunity to get together with industry experts and housekeeping professionals. During a recent visit to New York, Liz was able to meet up with Sharmila Tandon, Director of Rooms at the 5 star luxury Mandarin Oriental New York in Central Manhattan.

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This centrally located 248-room hotel high above Columbus Circle opened in 2003. The rooms start at the 38th level up to the 54thth level; all of the rooms have breathtaking views over Central Park and the Hudson River.

strong team of Housekeeping Guest Floor Managers.

Where was your first role as Executive Housekeeper?

At the Tudor Hotel on the eastside, New York What are your current responsibilities as Director of Rooms at Mandarin Oriental New York?

I am responsible for 175 staff in Housekeeping, Concierge, Bell Desk, Front Desk Guest Relations and PABX, 25 of my team members have a managerial or supervisory role.

What is your typical day like?

What is your cultural background and where were you born?

I was born in New Delhi, India and completed a Masters degree in English Literature before coming to New York in 1992.

What is your career path to date?

Upon my arrival in the US, I began an internship with a small hotel on the Eastside in New York. First in front of house, then back of house and I finished as a housekeeping office coordinator.

I was promoted up through the ranks of Housekeeping there to the position of Director of Housekeeping. I then worked at Trump International as Director of Housekeeping and moved from there to take on the opening of the American flagship hotel for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.

In 2008 I was promoted from Director of Housekeeping to Director of Rooms. There is currently no Director of Housekeeping; I oversee the Housekeeping Department with the help of an experienced and capable Assistant Director of Housekeeping & a

I begin my day at 8.30 am with a walk through of all Public areas. I print out all the reports from the night before to prepare for the morning’s operations meeting at 9.30am.

A weekly meeting follows this being either R&M, Revenue Management or Executive Committee meeting. We also review the daily arrivals and VIPs highlighting any special requests and lists of preferences.

If time allows, I take a quick lunch in the staff cafeteria. Each afternoon we have VIP walk thrus of arriving guests. This is conducted with a representative from Front Office, Engineering & Housekeeping.

Later in the afternoon, there are meetings and preparation work for the upcoming renovations. So far 3 speciality suites have been renovated since the hotel opened.

There are another 64 rooms due to be renovated in July and August of this year over an 8 week period.

I oversee all large purchases, while the office coordinator liaises with Purchasing for the regular weekly purchases; purchasing is all handled electronically as we are trying to be as paperless as possible.

During the day there are review meetings with the Engineer which also require joint decisions on Capex and FF&E requirements including issues for the renovations. This includes liaison for replacement of carpets and re upholstery.

The upkeep of the rooms to the highest possible standard is paramount so the Engineer runs an aggressive R&M programme where floors are taken out of inventory for a thorough maintenance review including full re-grouting, painting, marble polishing and steaming of mattresses & other furniture.

How do you choose those Managers under you?

They must have a really exceptional attitude, be personable and have a great interest for detailed housekeeping and the hotel industry.

As future housekeepers, they must have an eye for design, an understanding of finance, lots of initiative and have the right personality.

What are your 3 top tips for Success in Housekeeping Management?

An eye for detail and precision is a must A level of creativity and an artistic flair – this is important for the creative aesthetics of the job such as floral; this is something which can’t be taught.

The absolute need to care for people. Being the leader of a large group of staff this is also essential.

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If you had to do it all over again, what would you change?

I wouldn’t change much. The hotel business is very addictive and you must have a lot of passion and energy to work in it.

What advice would you give someone just starting out?

My advice would be to undertake lots of relevant courses and always be willing to learn more. Make sure you have an intrinsic understanding of the basics and develop an eye for detail. Be open to learn more from the competition, and to see what others are doing as this will help you have a clear understanding of the industry.

How about your personal life, how do you balance work and home?

I am lucky that I can switch off from work when I am home and concentrate on my young son – he is the number one priority in my life.

What do you do for fun?

We have a really active family life, we love playing sports in the parks including biking and roller blading. We are often out in the countryside hiking and being together with nature. We enjoy travelling and this allows all of us to see and appreciate different places & people How has Housekeeping Management changed since you started?

It hasn’t changed that much although it’s importance is definitely recognized more today. I feel GM’s are now more generally

supportive and appreciative of their Housekeeping teams. They see the value of the role Housekeeping plays to the core product.

Where do you see housekeeping heading in the future?

I am hoping this recognition will become stronger. Housekeepers should always aspire to go further. Spend time at Front Desk and understand how both operations work to get a clearer understanding of the rooms and hotel operation as a whole.

What are the differences working in New York as opposed to other areas of the States?

Most New York hotels are unionised. The unions set up a framework to benefit their members and then negotiate with the hotels. Hotels who follow the clearly laid down rules and treat all staff equally work well with the unions. The objective is to present a harmonious relationship, working towards providing exceptional guest service and staying aligned with our competitive set.

What are your 3 challenges this week?

The remodelling of the guestrooms as I mentioned earlier takes place later this summer; planning all logistics around it. I have also a meeting with a Holiday Decorations company to look at new concepts for the upcoming holiday season. I will be attending an intensive workshop conducted by David Richey, our mystery shopper company. The eleven hours of training is expected to be very thorough and includes lots of exercises and role plays. ■

PROFILE

Donna Gribble

Mateship the key to Donna’s successful team

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Novotel Barossa Valley Resort

hocolate Fridays, sports tipping sweepstakes, Pizza Days – It’s no wonder the social events keep the housekeeping department busy at the Novotel Barossa Valley Resort!

This emphasis on activities to engage the housekeeping staff should not be a surprise though once you realise Donna Gribble is in charge.

This affectionate and outgoing Executive Housekeeper has a keen desire to see all her staff happy and cohesive as they work together to maintain the high standards of the 140-room resort.

Donna ensures all 32 members of her department work with each other towards common goals. Together they raise money for night outs at the region’s fine restaurants or run sweeps for various sporting events – the biggest of course being the Melbourne Cup. Donna’s hard work has not gone unrecognised. In 2009, Donna won the Hotel and Accommodation Management award in the Rooms Division Department Members category, giving her Australia-wide acknowledgment for her work. Donna describes this achievement as the most pleasing and satisfying of her 23-year career.

Her career in hospitality began in New South Wales working at a hotel owned by her husband’s parents. She later worked in Broken Hill before moving to South Australia’s scenic Barossa Valley 11 years ago to begin at the Novotel. She started in room attendance before working her way up to Executive Housekeeper.

At the Novotel Barossa Valley, guests enjoy tennis, basketball and badminton facilities, a solarheated pool, gymnasium and bike hire. Guests can also relax by the day spa or have a round of golf on the neighbouring Tanunda Pines Golf Course.

One of Donna’s great pleasures is spending time with her grandchildren. Her five acre property gives them the chance to ride motorbikes while surrounded by the scenery and ambience of the charming Barossa wine region.

Even better though is their 80 acre property at Swan Reach, 6km from the Murray River. They are making the most of the recent high water levels by visiting twice a month with their boat and jet ski.

Donna is an ardent collector of antiques. Her favourite piece is her set of rare china tea cups and pots featuring blue and white willow patterns. She also describes herself as a bit of a foodie, which is no surprise when you live in such a renowned food and wine region!

Although Donna is responsible for organising rosters, staff training and her department’s budget, she still upholds her caring manner.

She always strives to guarantee staff flexibility in their working hours while making sure that all her new housekeepers are comfortable and confident in their job. This is demonstrated through the housekeeping manual she produced. Once her housekeepers receive their copy, Donna refers to it constantly to make sure everyone can satisfy the high expectations of the resort’s guests.

It is these guest expectations which motivate Donna to maintain her high quality of housekeeping. She feels great fulfilment upon receiving positive feedback, whether from guests or her housekeepers.

Donna is constantly there for her staff – she says her door is always open! It’s a welcoming attitude which clearly reflects through the high morale and enthusiasm of Donna and her housekeepers. ■

G E N E R A L M A N AG E R P RO F I L E

Sofitel Gold Coast Broadbeach

Marcus Hanna

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arcus Hanna’s career in the hospitality industry has taken him around the world.

Although he has now settled into his General Manager role at the five-star Sofitel Gold Coast Broadbeach, Marcus had previously worked across three continents at some of the world’s top hotels.

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Marcus has a huge appreciation for his dedicated Executive Housekeeper Libby Sharp along with his entire housekeeping team. Although new to the hotel, Marcus has developed a strong bond with his team by attending their morning briefings and joining them during lunch breaks.

Developing these personal relationships and making himself accessible to his staff is central to Marcus’ management philosophy.

Marcus’ career began when he worked as a banquet waiter at the Regent Hotel in Sydney (now Four Seasons Hotel). He studied meanwhile at Ryde Catering College where he completed his Associate Diploma of Hotel Management. However, Marcus’ true passion for competitive rowing soon became his focus when he accepted a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.

He competed in the 1993 World Rowing Championships in Ra ice, Czech Republic, and the 1994 World Championships in Indianapolis, United States of America.

“A good General Manager can’t be officebound,” he says. “They need to be out and about ... active throughout their hotel and interested in any concerns with what’s going on”.

“I understand that not everyone enjoys exercise,” Marcus says. “But I encourage the housekeepers and everyone else at the hotel to look after themselves and live a healthy lifestyle”.

Marcus’ career then began to accelerate once he started as Restaurant Supervisor at the InterContinental Hotel in Sydney. He moved through various other positions before moving to the InterContinental Hotel in London as the Assistant Food and Beverage Manager. He transferred to the InterContinental in Malta as Director of Food & Beverage before moving to the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, USA. His worldwide career then returned back to Australia when Marcus became Food & Beverage Manager and then Executive Assistant Manager at the Sofitel Hotel in Melbourne. Later he would become involved as project manager for Accor when they set up the Qantas First Class Lounges in Sydney and Melbourne International Airports.

Marcus landed his first General Manager position at the Pullman Hotel at Sydney Olympic Park, where he worked for threeand-a-half years, before accepting his current General Manager role at the 296-room Sofitel Gold Coast Broadbeach three months ago.

Essential towards achieving this is providing support from management. “Housekeeping is a hard job. You need to get to know their challenges and break down their work so that it’s manageable”.

Marcus ensures the Sofitel’s high standards are maintained by completing weekly quality control tests on 10 rooms with Libby and his Hotel Engineer, Alan Wallbanks. This is particularly useful for identifying where training could be improved for new housekeepers. However, Marcus mentions that the Sofitel’s housekeeping department consistently receive the most positive feedback from the hotel’s Guest Satisfaction Surveys, which are sent out to all guests following their stay.

Marcus notes that housekeepers have excellent development opportunities within the Accor Hotel Group. “Two years ago Accor launched their online university for staff training alongside their corporate training courses. I have seen housekeepers change their role within the hotel (from these courses)”.

Marcus’ background in food and beverage has led to a love for dining out, while his commitment to exercise has remained throughout his life. With over 100 bars and restaurants in the precinct and the crisp beachfront only 200 metres away, Marcus is right at home at the Sofitel Gold Coast Broadbeach. ■

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PROFILE

Shelley Jogis

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Rendezvous Hotel Melbourne

helley Jogis is the Executive Housekeeper at the Rendezvous Hotel in Melbourne, a 340 room hotel located opposite the renowned Flinders St Railway station.

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Shelley studied for a Diploma in Tourism Management at Gordon Institute , Geelong specialising in Events Operation .She began working as a room attendant at Erskine House in Lorne on the Surf Coast at weekends whilst studying. This experience stimulated her interest in Housekeeping and its’ workings. She decided to make it her career hoping that one day she could make a difference. When I asked her what she meant by that , she replied that she thinks Housekeeping is underestimated and there is a need to promote it as a career , (an opinion she shares with many Executive Housekeepers.)

After leaving college , Shelley took a position at Sails in the Desert , Ayers Rock working as a room attendant and public area cleaner for eighteen months before returning to Melbourne to work at the Hotel Lindrum as a room attendant for six months. She decided to return to Ayers Rock working again as a room attendant. After six months she was given the opportunity to cross train as a Housekeeping Supervisor for the next two months.

Returning to Melbourne in 2003 , she was employed at Le Meridien at Rialto which became Rialto on Collins , starting as a room attendant before being promoted to Housekeeping supervisor. She stayed at Rialto on Collins for four years and left at the end of 2007 when the hotel closed for renovations.

It was then she took up a position as a Housekeeping supervisor at the now Rendezvous Hotel (formerly the Duxton .)

This was to prove a challenging role as the Housekeeping department at the Duxton was outsourced. Shelley was involved in reverting the departmental staff to an in house operation. She has been at the Rendezvous Hotel for four years , the last two as Executive Housekeeper, describing her promotion as her best Housekeeping experience to date .

Her current main challenges are ongoing staff training with her “great team” and she is in the process of creating a Housekeeping manual for all staff to follow whilst investigating technology that will improve communication within the department.

Shelley is scheduled to attend leadership training in the near future which she is looking forward to and which she believes will benefit her current role Shelley was raised in Tasmania returning with her parents to live in Geelong when she turned eighteen. She currently lives in Melbourne and her future career ambitions see her working as an Executive Housekeeper in a five star property. Why not indeed. ■

PROFILE

Rose Stevens

Rose finds her home in housekeeping recurring homesickness for her life back in Scotland could have radically changed Rose Stevens’ successful housekeeping career.

However, as Executive Housekeeper of the five-star Sebel Playford Hotel in Adelaide she is thankful for her perseverance in the industry following her family’s immigration to Australia in 1972.

Sebel Playford Hotel

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After arriving in South Australia with her husband and two boys, Rose got her first housekeeping job at the Travel Lodge on South Terrace in Adelaide. She worked there for nine months. She entered the industry because she wanted to make use of the good housekeeping skills she had developed from her domestic life. She then took up a position at the Flinders Lodge Motel, although this was interrupted by a yearning for life back home.

“My husband in particular became very homesick, so we moved back to Scotland for three years,” Rose recounts. “When we came back I started working at the Flinders Lodge again until 1981”.

After this Rose started to gain some momentum in her career when she joined the housekeeping team at the Rydges South Park Hotel. She worked there until 1985 when another bout of homesickness saw her family return to Glasgow.

Her return to Adelaide three years later was permanent. She resumed her career at Adelaide’s Hyatt Hotel (now InterContinental Resort) and was rapidly promoted to become a Team Leader after less than a year in the job.

She kept this role for seven years until she finally became Executive Housekeeper in 1996. She moved briefly to Western Australia in what she calls her ‘eight week holiday’ before returning to South Australia to spend more time with her newly-born granddaughter. It was now that she joined the Sebel Playford as a Supervisor before being promoted to Executive Housekeeper; a position she has held for the past nine years.

Rose has a deep affection for her hardworking staff and describes them as ‘a great mix of cultures, temperaments and personalities’. Many of them work on a part time basis and have little previous housekeeping experience. She assigns them into seven teams who must look after one level each of the 182-room hotel, which encourages teams to take pride in their level. It is clear that Rose’s management skills have worked as the Sebel Playford has received many awards over her tenure as Executive Housekeeper. In 2009 and 2010, the hotel won the Australian Hotels Association’s ‘Best Deluxe Hotel Accommodation in SA’ award along with South Australian Tourism’s ‘Best Luxury Accommodation’ award.

Maintaining the high standards expected of a five-star hotel is a constant challenge to Rose.

However she says the hotel’s comment cards and welcome cards are great incentives for her and her fellow housekeepers.

“The welcome card is printed with the name and details of the room’s housekeeper, which gives it a bit of a personal touch,” she says.

“The card also has the pillow menu on it where guests can choose the aromatherapy, magnet or latex pillow covers. They can also use it to choose things such as their breakfast or type of bed linen”.

One of Rose’s great pleasures is dining at the restaurants around Holdfast Shores near her home in Somerton Park. She loves going out for breakfast along the beachfront esplanade and spending time with her grandchildren.

Rose leads her team by example. Having immigrated to Australia herself, Rose can empathise with her diverse mix of multicultural colleagues and the challenges they face.

“I say to them: ‘I started where you started, and if I can do it then you defiantly can too’”. Rose’s ascent to the top of the housekeeping industry makes her a strong role model for her team and others who are new to housekeeping.

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A sense of affordable luxury Why combining sensory branding and the environment is the next big hospitality trend

Looking for a competitive edge that makes your property stand out from the crowd? A growing number of hoteliers are taking hospitality to a whole new level by catering to all five of their guests’ senses.

ensory branding is the hottest new trend in an industry that realizes today’s hospitality guests have more of a “been there, done that” point of view. They don’t just want to visit a property, they want to experience it. And the best way to build a positive emotional association between your guests and your brand is through sight, sound, smell, touch and taste.

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The adoption of green initiatives can also develop positive emotional associations with guests who show great support for what your brand is doing in terms of the environment.

Take your guests on a journey and celebrate your social conscience by including eco alternatives in room such as furnishings, furniture, light fittings, recycling programs and in room guest amenities.

Once the exclusive domain of luxury hotel and resort spas, sensory branding is now being incorporated into every division of the finest hotels. The same soothing music, evocative design and enchanting aromatherapy that help create the inviting spa experience are now being utilized in lobbies, corridors, restaurants and guest rooms.

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Research shows that a guest’s “arousal” can be stimulated or suppressed through the use of mood settings such as music and fragrance. In fact, 75% of our memories and emotions are generated by what we smell, according to author Martin Lindstrom in his bestselling book, Brand Sense.

• Mini-bars with more healthy food.

And a recent Cornell Hospitality Quarterly study found that introducing an ambient scent into a room significantly increased the number of social interactions between the study’s participants.

• LED lighting.

• Caller-friendly phone service that provides music and messages about your property while prospective guests are on hold.

• Bamboo wood treatments.

• Energy efficient appliances.

• Solar energy systems.

• The use of biodegradable & recycled materials throughout the property.

It’s no wonder that many hotel chains are now using exclusive signature fragrances to create a distinctive Another way to create a memorable ambience and a competitive advantage for there property.

It’s no wonder that many sensory experience for your guests is by providing them with quality hotel chains are now environmentally responsible bathroom Starwood’s Westin Hotels, for example, use a white tea fragrance in all their using exclusive signature amenities. lobbies worldwide. Sheraton uses a Concept Amenities offers a full line of combination of fig, clove, and jasmine at fragrances to create a exquisitely designed, exclusively branded its properties. Omni Hotels combines the distinctive ambience and a soaps, creams and liquids formulated aroma of green tea and lemongrass in its the finest natural ingredients and lobbies and provides the scent of sugar competitive advantage for with designed to pamper cookies in its coffee shops, while Four the body and delight the senses.They are there property.

Points hotels have a hint of cinnamon and environmentally clove in their public areas. friendly using biodegradable plastics and recycled materials wherever possible.To High design and unique visual style can learn more about these products, visit also enhance your brand. Joie de Vivre Hotels of California offer www.conceptamenities.com. décor in its public and private areas that is carefully crafted to appeal to all five senses, incorporating water and light, and Sources elements like warm wood, sprigs of fresh lavender and natural “The Future Is Sensory, Smell and Sound Are the Next Big Branding stones.

Sustainable alternatives are not only contemporary in design; they can considerably reduce your power, water and waste management bills.

Other small but significant touches can help forge a lasting bond between guests and your brand, such as: • The color and texture of window treatments; • Exotic cuisine in hotel restaurants; • Guest room candles and natural sounds to fall asleep to;

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Tools,” Hospitality Asia, June 2008.

“Sensory Heights” by Andrea Deng (HK Edition), China Daily, Updated 6/17/2011.

“There’s a buzz about sensory branding. But what is it? And how do hotels activate the five senses as part of the guest experience.”

Muzak.com (music.muzak.com/pdf/Sensory-Branding.pdf/ “A sociable atmosphere: ambient scent’s effect on social interaction.

(Hotel Management)” Dina Marie Zemke & Stowe Shoemaker.

Entrepeneur. (www.entrepreneur.com). Updated 6/23/2011.

“Scents of Place: Scent Branding in the Hotel World” by Natasha Mekhail. Sparksheet. (http://sparksheet.com). 2/22/2011.

Top Tips for the Perfect Uniform Interview with Pamela Batt Contractor for Uniform Installation Galaxy Macau

amela was born in Melbourne and grew up in Perth. She began her career by owning and running and a card and gift shop in Perth for over 15 years before moving to Sydney in 1995.

Her hospitality career began at Star City as a Wardrobe Attendant in the Wardrobe Department. She then moved to become Wardrobe Clerk, responsible for quality control, ordering and maintaining the quality of all items in the Star City Wardrobe Department. She finished off as a Supervisor at the casino/hotel operation and left Star City for Saint Catherine’s Girls School in Waverley. Here she was the Uniform Shop Manager for 4 years until she moved to Macau with her husband in April 2006. She took on the job as Wardrobe Manager for Altira Hotel and Casino and undertaking the wardrobe installation for the opening of the hotel in December 2006. After 18 months she was transferred to the sister property; City of Dreams to set up the new wardrobe operation there. City of Dreams has 6300 uniformed employees and Pam’s role was to coordinate the uniform design and set up for the installation. She left the hotel in January 2009 and after a break took on her current job as Wardrobe Consultant for the Galaxy project which began in July 2010.

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She is responsible for outfitting the 7500 uniformed employees this includes initially coordinating with the designers and coordinating with the manufacturing side.

When I asked what issues she faced with such big numbers she said the number one concern was communication. She needed a very extensive size range for all of the different multicultural staff. Of the 7500 employees there are 32 different nationalities.

The third big issue was in educating staff on how the wardrobe department works and functions.

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It is important to ensure the garment is made to fit for the purpose, this is a big priority.

I asked Pamela for her top tips on how to get the perfect uniform. The number one point was functionality for the position. It is important to ensure the garment is made to fit for the purpose of the garment, this is a big priority.

Number two was durability of the fabric and the construction of the garment. Good manufacturing processes without shortcuts being taken is essential for the perfect uniform. Shortcuts could include using poor quality facing fabric in suit lapels for example.

The third point was the correct choice of fabric, a fabric which can withstand the industrial laundry process. She finds a combination of 60% polyester with 40% viscose for pants and suiting to be the most successful. She also recommended microfibre and 100% polyester for pants and suiting though this doesn’t breathe so well.

For white shirting, the recommendation is for 65% polyester 35% cotton, this is the best mix for durability and longevity of the garment. She mentioned it is important to always choose the blue toned version of a white shirt rather than the yellow toned version. As the garment wears, it becomes grey as the cotton fibres disintegrate and the

shirt is left with 100% polyester fibres at the end of its life.

For white shirts with best the look choose 60% cotton and 40% polyester.

In terms of design, for Pam it is hard to go past the classic 2 button suit, it never dates and this is the suit design she would recommend.

For pants, always use adjustable buttons on the trousers, these are better than the adjustable sliders which tend to break during the commercial laundry process. Her other tips include to consider ordering uniform standard sizing rather than made- tomeasure, even for suits. She usually order 50% unhemmed garments and 50% with regular and longer legs at the time of installation. She also suggested to look at longer arms and shorter arms versions of jackets and shirts for ease of multi-fit.

In terms of fabric it is essential to ask the manufacturer to include in their contract 30% spare fabric to keep on hand and to be utilised within 12 months.You need to be able to give a guarantee to the manufacturer that you will use the fabric up within 12 months.

These are Pam’s top tips for the perfect uniform. â–

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Spoil your guests

… with a hotel feather down bed topper

hotel feather down bed topper on a commercial pillow top mattress

During the last 12 months in Australia, the words GUEST SLEEP COMFORT in accommodation have been taken to a whole new level. The “feather down bed topper” phenomenon has finally kicked in here, where it has been hugely successful in other parts of the world for some years now.

Gary Coman, CEO of HotelHome Australia, manufacturers and wholesalers of all high quality hotel textile products, says he had experienced various bed toppers in hotels within the US, Europe and parts of Asia.

Whilst some were quite good, many were just retail versions like we see in some Australian properties where the true hotel bed topper experience is not being offered.

However, it was not until he was on a trade mission in the UAE when business in that area was booming and he stayed in a sister property to the world famous 7 star Burj hotel in Dubai that he experienced the

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most magnificent “hotel feather down bed topper” he had heard about, but never seen.

Gary was fortunate enough to meet with senior management of this hotel group at a function, which helped him to find a lot more about the specifications of this remarkable bed topper quality they were using. Twelve months and fifteen prototypes later, his own brand of this genuine hotel feather down bed topper was born and it is now proving to be a huge success in customer focused properties around Australia.

He says that whilst bed toppers in all sorts of different forms have been available through retailers for some years now, none of them are made to the same specifications as that of a true hotel feather down bed topper, as seen in these magnificent hotels. Some retail styles are made with a thin compartment of down on a separate top layer, so that they can be promoted as having a high percentage

of down content, however this percentage only refers to this very thin layer and not the whole topper. Others are made from polyester derivatives which are soft, but are nothing more than a thick mattress protector and they do not offer the experience of a hotel feather down bed topper.

The key ingredient to a hotel feather down bed topper is the down, which is very expensive and a good reason why this product cannot be bought on price alone.

Some manufacturers try to produce endless variations to sell a cheaper product, however they are most often short lived and they do not work. The down must be mixed in with the total fill of extra small feathers within each gusseted compartment, because they both trap air collectively and perform as partners. The down traps more air than the feathers, however the small and soft feathers (many hundreds of thousands) provide the

mass required to support the weight of a body. Too much down percentage can also be a negative, because it may seem super soft to touch but without the heavier mass, it will not give the correct feeling of being suspended for a certain period of time which accelerates that totally relaxed feeling and makes sleeping easier. The correct overall volume of down and feather is also important like a feather down duvet, however these two products have almost nothing in common except for the fill contents and the high count Japara cover. The duvet can be an eighth of the weight of this bed topper and whilst the duvet lies on top of the body trapping air and body warmth, the bed topper also traps the air for a totally different function, i.e. body support and comfort, not warmth. The tall internal gussets required for this high quantity of fill and the particular compartment sizing, are all part of what makes this product work perfectly and rise to well over 10 cm when prepared quickly and correctly by housekeeping staff.

Everyone in this industry recognizes that the comfort level of hotel beds produced by the quality manufacturers in this country have improved enormously in recent years. Some manufacturers have extra comfort pillow tops like the retail styles, however the most supportive and lavish mattress can still be taken to a much higher level of comfort with the addition of these genuine hotel feather down bed toppers. In some instances, the leading bedding manufacturers have even recommended them to their more discerning clients.

Seasoned world travellers who frequent premium hotels in certain countries,

hotel feather down bed topper on a commercial mattress

know this higher standard of hotel feather down bed topper very well and when they experience it back home here in Australia, most are extremely pleased it is finally available here and often they want to purchase one for their own home.

Local Australian travellers who are now experiencing hotels here that have indulged in spoiling clients with this high level of sleep comfort, are also very vocal in their praise for the product and the property. They also have no doubt where they will be staying on their next visit to the area.

It is fair to say that the hotel feather down bed topper has stolen the thunder from many of its unrelated competing products in the hotel room that are on the waiting list in the next CAPEX. This may include favourites such as larger flat screens and the latest mod cons, because there is a very important issue here called GUEST SLEEP COMFORT that just cannot wait. Hotel groups both large and

small, who have now invested in these quality hotel feather down bed toppers have seen excellent responses first hand and they are experiencing accolades from both new and old clientele. It does not take long before all properties in the group are being considered for a fit out with this hugely successful must have product.

With the increasing awareness and growing success of this product globally, it is quite possible that in the very near future, the majority of accommodation properties of different levels and locations will feature this luxury product on their beds as standard. A genuine hotel feather down bed topper is destined to become a must have, not a might have. Those properties that do get in early can reap the benefits of using this product inclusion within their own promotion/ advertising to increase their clientele and SPOIL THEIR EXISTING GUESTS BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE DOES. â–

fully aired hotel feather down bed topper

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A DV E R TO R I A L

What Is A Healthy Hotel?

A healthy hotel is a quality premises of any size which undertakes regular sanitising using the Health Protect International process.

What Is The Healthy Hotels Program?

The Healthy Hotels program focuses on allowing certified hotels to present to today’s health conscious travellers, as a truly exceptional facility.

Unlike having your mattresses and carpets sanitised with any other provider, Health Protect International offers a comprehensive sanitisation and branding solution as opposed to just cleaner mattresses for your hotel.

An opportunity to truly turn hygiene into profit, to turn a maintenance cost into one of the most powerful branding points of difference since cable TV or non-smoking hotel rooms.

• Increase occupancy, strengthen loyalty – add value to your room proposition • Significantly extend mattress and carpet lives, saving budget • Save up to 170,000 litres of water per annum • Quality assured, organic treatments • Environmentally friendly solutions • Healthy Hotels GuideTM

• Protects and ensures the reputation of member properties by bringing regulation and sustainability to an otherwise loose and premature industry.

• Quality Assurance program ensures consistency is delivered across the entire network • An initiative that is supported by bodies such as AAA Tourism • Organic treatments which are manufactured to US EPA, USDA A-1 Approved Standards • Enables you to offer relief to the 30% of travellers who suffer from allergies • Guaranteed Stain and Odour treatment available • The only company to offer complete service coverage with over 100 trained and supported operators through the Asia Pacific • A registered member of Carbon Neutral, a scheme which involves the contribution of funds to enable the planting of trees to offset global warming • An award winning company and service • The only sanitisation process recommended by leading mattress manufacturers

With the only trained, supported and integrated sanitising service network in the world, along with the exclusive rights to the world’s first and only Healthy Hotels ProgramTM and Guide, Health Protect International offers a solution that is simply unparalleled in not just one way, but in every way.

The Healthy Hotels Program enables you as an accommodation provider to meet burgeoning trends in your marketing by ensuring your guests stay in not just a clean room but a sanitised room, whilst significantly reducing your maintenance costs.

Partnering the world’s leading green sanitising technology with the most eloquent of market communication ensures that your initiative is economically rewarded.

Whether you are aiming to increase market share aggressively or simply maintain it prudently, with the Healthy Hotels Program you can provide the ultimate hygienic room offering, enabling you to boost guest loyalty, increase your market share and strengthen the financial performance of your group through increased profit in the short, medium and long term with one pervasive, professional solution.

Graeme Bausch Health Protection Services SIMPLE

CLEANING IS NOT ENOUGH TO REDUCE ALLERGENS.

Sanitisation is the only proven method that can significantly reduce allergens.

Mattress, carpet and upholstery sanitising is a largely ignored sector of the hospitality industry. The merits of sanitising have been examined closely with a long and compelling history of test data and professional scrutiny.

All recommendations to date point to the need for sanitisation for the preservation of peoples’ health and safety.

Simple cleaning is not enough to reduce allergens.

Sanitisation is the only proven method that can significantly reduce allergens.

Our proven process for the removal of foreign objects and dust mite, and the addition of residual protection to prevent the return.

Using 100% biodegradable, natural and effective unique cleaning products and methods that are completely safe for you, your family, pets and the surfaces being cleaned, foreign objects and dust mites are removed from your carpets, mattresses and upholstery, whilst leaving a residual protection against return contamination.

Health Protect International SANITISING SPECIALISTS

0417 515 819 www.hygienehealth.com.au

Know the Weapons in your Fight to Clean for Health

BY J. DARREL HICKS

he world around us is made of both seen and unseen hazards. At times the hazards that one sees are enough to make you tremble in fear. But, the unseen should hold equal dread and fear. While one can arm himself for defence against the visible enemy, I think we would all agree, it is much more difficult to be armed and ready to defend against an invisible enemy.

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What you can’t see, can hurt you. Invisible to the naked eye, a world of microorganisms (living things so small you need a microscope to see them) live in soil, on your skin, in your mouth, on the floor, and on doorknobs, cell phones, shopping cart handles, computer keyboards, or elevator buttons – pretty much everywhere.

Not all microorganisms are harmful, but a number of them can cause illness or even death – and waste no time multiplying exponentially, inside the human body or out. Controlling the growth of harmful microorganisms is vital to health. But before you can do that, you have to understand who your opponents are and how they get into your body.

Identifying the Enemy Some types of infectious microorganisms (also known as germs, microbes, bugs or pathogens) are: • Bacteria-single celled microorganisms that exist as independent (free-living) organisms or as parasites (dependent on another

organism for life).You would have to magnify a single coccus (round bacterium) 500 times to make it as large as the period at the end of this sentence.

• C. diff (Clostridium difficle), MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and VRE (vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis) are just a few of the sometimes deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can take up residency in a hospital patient who came in for a completely different reason. Talk about kicking a person when he or she is down.

• Fungi – feed on organic matter and can be either single-celled or multi-cellular: moulds, mildews, yeasts and mushrooms are common examples of fungi. Some fungi cause disease in humans. Different types of fungi include: mould on shower curtains or around other surfaces that are moist and dark;

airborne mould riding on dust particles, athlete’s foot and yeast infections. Fungi can cause a life-threatening infection in an immunocompromised person (someone who has a weakened immune system such as a cancer patient who is receiving chemotherapy).

• Viruses – even smaller than bacteria, viruses must borrow components from a host in order to live. Viruses may reproduce with errors or mutations.

The ability to mutate is responsible for the ability of some viruses to change slightly in each infected person, making treatment more difficult. During the 1980s and early 1990s, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), HBV (Hepatitis B Virus) and HCV (Hepatitis C Virus) emerged and remain a life-threatening global issue.

Noroviruses (viruses that cause the stomach flu or gastroenteritis and are common to cruise ships, schools and other public places) and rhinoviruses (causing the common cold) are also common viral threats.

As you can plainly see, the ‘unseen enemy’ can be very frightening and threatening to the unsuspecting or unarmed person. But, with science on our side, we can develop some hands-on infection prevention strategies.

Introducing Hands-on Infection Prevention Strategies Although cleanliness may be next to godliness, it’s also very closely related to disinfection. In fact, cleaning can avert the need to disinfect in some situations because clean and dry surfaces can’t harbour microbial growth for very long.

A disinfectant kills existing microbes. However, depending on the pathogen, preventing

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with HEPA filters, and regularly clean and maintain equipment to ensure efficient particle removal.

Best practice – Minimise contamination of cleaning solutions and cleaning tools. Bucket solutions become contaminated almost immediately during cleaning and continued use of the solution transfers increasing numbers of microorganisms to each subsequent surface to be cleaned. Cleaning solutions should be replaced frequently. A variety of ‘bucket’ methods have been devised to address the frequency with which cleaning solutions are replaced. Another source of contamination in the cleaning process is the cleaning cloth or mop head, especially if left soaking in dirty cleaning solutions. Laundering of cloths and mop heads after use and allowing them to dry before re-use can help to minimise the degree of contamination.

A simplified approach to cleaning involves replacing soiled cloths and mop heads with clean items each time a bucket of detergent/ disinfectant is emptied and replaced with fresh, clean solution. Some great tools to battle microbes include:

the microbes from getting a foothold by removing food and moisture (two essentials for sustaining living organisms) may, in the long-term, be as effective as a chemical disinfectant. In fact, most chemical disinfectants can’t do their job when high levels of organic soil are in the way. Soil can absorb the active ingredient, provide more places for the germs to hide, and change the chemical nature of the disinfectant.

By removing the organic soil with an appropriate cleaner, you give the right disinfectant a much better opportunity to kill the target bugs.

Handwashing When it comes to prevention and control of infections the best advice I can give you is advice your mother gave you as a child, ‘Wash your hands!’

Most microorganisms get into your body because you touch something (or someone) contaminated, you touch your nose, mouth or eyes with soiled hands. Getting germs off your hands by rubbing and rinsing with regular hand soap and water for 20 seconds, paying

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attention to the finger tips and nails, helps prevent this from happening.

Use paper towels as a barrier when you turn off faucets and open the rest room door after you wash your hands appropriately.

If you ever find yourself a patient in a hospital, ask that staffers wash or sanitise their hands while you watch. Also, don’t let anybody walk in with gloves already on and touch you or anything in your room.You don’t know where those gloves or hands have been.

Removing Soil Washing or scrubbing a surface physically removes soils and organic material such as blood and body fluids, and takes with it all the germs. The guiding principle is always to remove germs if possible, rather than kill them, and then, when necessary, use the least amount of the mildest chemical that will do the job, because stronger often means more toxic to people.

To reduce airborne dust and germs, wet dust horizontal surfaces daily with clean cloths pre-moistened with a hospital-approved disinfectant or disinfectant wipes, use vacuums

• Steam and vapour devices, which sanitise, and in some cases, disinfect without the use of chemicals .

• Spray-and-vac technology, which removes, rather than kills, microbes. Why kill them when you can physically remove 99% of them by high-pressure water and vacuuming them away?

Utilising the Magic of Microfibre One of the greatest cleaning weapons in the war against harmful micro-organisms is microfibre (ultra-fine synthetic fibres woven into cloth), in the form of mops and cleaning cloths. In the same way that a terrycloth towel is more absorbent than a cotton t-shirt because of its thousands of tiny loops, microfibre tools supply more aggressive cleaning action because they have increased surface area and holding space for micro-soils.

Microfibre helps physically remove me food and moisture necessary for micro-organisms to survive, but better grades of microfibre (those with very dense weaving and fibre configuration) can even remove large quantities of microbes, including hard-to-kill spores. Use microfibre with a disinfectant solution for best results against germs.

Conclusion

INFECTION CONTROL FOR DUMMIES

In summary, cleaning for health rather than aesthetics will always set you apart from those who are more concerned about appearance than the safety of the building’s occupants (be they patients, students, office workers or the public in general). To clean for health one needs to know the enemy and then the weapons to the fight that will ensure victory.

‘Infection Control for Dummies’ is a book for anyone who wants to promote well-being and prevent infections related to a dirty, contaminated, germ-ridden environment. The 43 page, pocket-size book is said to offer an ambitious range of information mainly for professionals in the environmental services field, but also for the average person interested in professional knowledge and methods.

We have discussed the enemy (bacteria, fungi and viruses) and have laid out several strategies for defeating them by removing them along with the soil that gives them all they need (food, moisture and air).

When you are involved in the cleaning industry, whether on the front lines or planning the battle strategy, you must remember that lives are at stake. We must win the war against the unseen enemy.

“This book is important for managers and staff responsible for cleaning a school, office building, medical or other facility, or anyone who has an interest in professional infection prevention and control,” states author Darrel Hicks.

Readers will discover how to:

*Darrel Hicks, BA, REH, CHESP, is past president of the International Executive Housekeepers Association (IEHA).

Hicks has written and published numerous articles in professional and healthcare-related journals as part of his commitment to providing a cleaner, safer and healthier indoor environment.

• • • •

Use cleaning techniques to keep infection at bay; Match the disinfectant to the situation; Understand labels and product claims; Keep your environment healthy.

Infection Control for Dummies can be ordered at www.darrelhicks.com

www.darrelhicks.com

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Green Cleaning: Towards Sustainability ROI

By Stefan Phang | Regional Sustainability Director | Diversey, Inc.

An increasing number of companies, from consumer packaged goods companies to leading hotel chains, are making bold new statements on sustainability. Even better, they are cementing their commitment by walking the talk. These companies view their sustainability programs as a competitive advantage and are making significant commitments to clean technology and greener products, including suppliers and solution providers such as Diversey.

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ikewise, consumers today are showing greater environmental consciousness, demanding stricter standards on product quality, service, and how a business is responsibly run. In the hospitality trade, there are numerous opportunities for you to kick-start sustainable practices, including green cleaning, to reap positive return on investments (ROI). Green cleaning can simply be defined as cleaning without harming the environment. However, the concept encompasses more than a switch to green products. It requires a change in mindset and behaviour as well. At a CEO

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roundtable discussion during the 2009 climate negotiations in Copenhagen, Diversey introduced a shift in thinking when we identified greenhouse gas emissions as a measurable indicator of waste: “Once industry begins to treat greenhouse gas emissions as an indicator of inefficiency in the system, enterprises can factor it into their profit models and calculate a return on investment (ROI).� In 2009, Diversey committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 25% below 2003 levels by 2013, and provide an ROI of US$32 million on an investment of US$14 million over the course of its efforts.

Principles of Green Cleaning Apart from green products, green cleaning is ensuring that a product used or the service rendered has a true sustainability value. This means evaluating the environmental footprint of the product life cycle and finding ways to minimize the environmental impact during the process of manufacture, transportation, use and disposal. In simpler terms, businesses should look at striking a balance of environmental, social and economic factors for sustainability.

A responsible supplier should also have an active Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) system and sound emergency response procedures in place to handle any contingencies in his operations.

If you are considering green cleaning for your operations, start with looking at three basic principles. Firstly, select products that are designed for sustainability as well as safety.

Its ingredients should be selected and formulated by the supplier with care, to ensure safety of the end-user as well as sustainability of how it is used and disposed of. Basically, we should avoid using ingredients that are slow to biodegrade, especially those that have the potential to bio-accumulate, and those that are classified as endocrinedisruption chemicals. The supplier should be following international guidelines to ensure that products are formulated to be safe for people and environment. At Diversey, the Environmental Safety and Sustainability Profile is the system used to assess product life cycle and carbon footprint. Our chemical products are measured and scored in the four broad categories of Human Health, Environment Performance, Green Chemistry, and Packaging and Dispensing, against stringent criteria from various third party certifications. Combined with the life cycle metrics of energy, water and waste, the system is able to provide the full sustainability measure of each product.

Secondly, work closely with your suppliers to monitor the manufacturing impact on their end. This includes requesting your supplier for data that supports evidence of responsible manufacturing. This includes minimizing raw material and finished good wastage, reducing energy and water consumption, discharge of effluent (especially hazardous waste) to sewers and emissions to the atmosphere. In the cleaning industry, a best practice would be delivering concentrated solutions that weigh less than conventional, water-added products and are packed in specially engineered containers with proper dosing and dispensing equipment. This reduces shipping and storage space, as well as protects users from direct contact with concentrated chemicals. Packaging also adds to the environmental impact. For example, the cardboard used to make carton or boxes should be sourced from sustainably-managed forests and the plastics for packaging should be recyclable. However, where possible, the overall use of plastics and cardboard should be reduced by using refillable containers and by using efficient, concentrated products.

A responsible supplier should also have an active Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) system and sound emergency response procedures in place to handle any contingencies in his operations.

Thirdly, minimize the environmental impact that arises during cleaning operations. This depends largely on how the products are used, as the environmental impact can only be minimized with right doses of the

product that are used in the right manner for the right tasks. Proper training of staff on the correct cleaning procedures is essential to not only ensure worker productivity and safety, but also reduce waste and disposal to landfills.

For example, overdosing the product by 20% not only waste money but it increases the environmental impact of the product life cycle by 20%.

Green cleaning forms just one aspect of a total sustainability drive. For businesses that are already seeing positive ROI from sustainable practices, a good gauge of their performance would be to seek green certification through an independent assessment of their operations. Diversey believes in the value of third-party, independent certifications for our own products and systems. We also are involved in the work of many organizations committed to sustainability, such as Climate Savers, the rigorous greenhouse gas reduction program of the World Wildlife Fund and the Global Water Roundtable.

Sustainability ROI and the Integrated Bottom Line The conventional concept behind sustainability is the ‘Triple Bottom Three’ of People (human impact), Plant (environmental impact) and Profit (financial impact). Diversey has taken the concept further to focus on measuring the returns on sustainability investments, integrating social and environmental measures into the financial balance sheet and income statement instead of being treated separately, hence - the Integrated Bottom Line.

Enhanced top-line growth Brand value, customer relationship, talent recruiting/ retention, innovations, new business models Reduced operational costs Energy, water, waste, compliance, health, labor, liability

➡

Growth +

➡

Cost Savings = Integrated Bottom Line

About Diversey Diversey, Inc. is committed to a cleaner, healthier future. Its products, systems and expertise make food, drink and facilities safer and more hygienic for consumers and for building occupants.

With sales into more than 175 countries, Diversey is a leading global provider of commercial cleaning, sanitation and hygiene solutions.The company serves customers in the building management, lodging, food service, retail, health care, and food and beverage sectors. Diversey is headquartered in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, USA. To learn more, visit www.diversey.com.

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A DV E R TO R I A L

StayClean Hands Improving business hand hygiene at the front line StayClean Hands is an exceptional new business-to-business service with the specific aim to address hand sanitising in businesses at large.

Launched in 2010, the hand sanitiser initiative is benefiting from the growing concern for commercial businesses to engage in healthy hand hygiene practises beyond the public bathroom.

The battery-operated dispensers offer the latest in environmental design and touch-free technology, measuring the exact amount of solution into the hands of each user. With a modern look and silver finish, they are an essential component to every health-conscious business owner.

The hand sanitising solution is alcohol-free, which makes it easy to store and handle as it does not constitute a fire hazard. The active ingredient is benzalkonium chloride, which is a non-toxic antiseptic used in medical applications.

Stayclean Hands offers to the market its three different dispenser models, from a compact model to a large dispenser with the added feature of a display area in which businesses are conveying different messages to either employees or customers. The Stayclean Hands dispensers are made to handle heavy use and large volumes of customers, its compact model delivers 2500 uses per cartridge and the larger models deliver 6000 uses per cartridge. Very cost efficient, the hand sanitising service costs are as low as 3.5 cents per use.

Small to medium businesses have indicated a strong demand for StayClean’s hygienic services and solutions, for both their customers and staff. Interested businesses include food and grocery retailers, hospitality industry at large, hairdressing and beauty salons, medical surgeries, chiropractic and physiotherapist practitioners, and shopping centre management.

The StayClean Hands’ attractive proposition is presented through a service contract that includes installation, full service, and the supply of the hand sanitising solution for a very competitive monthly charge.

The experienced team at StayClean Hands, headed by general manager, Luis Nevares, has been actively delivering business proposals to secure state and national accounts.

“We are offering an outstanding service with a state-of-the-art dispenser system that secures effective hand hygiene best practice for the business community.” announced Mr Nevares.

For more information on StayClean Hands sanitisers, contact Luis Nevares on 1300 769 967 or at info@staycleanhands.com

The touch-free, alcohol-free hand sanitising solution for businesses ADVANTAGES

WHAT IS IT? It is a hand sanitising solution for your staơ and clients that kills 99.9% of germs without the need for water.

The user does not need to touch any part of the dispenser to access the sanitiser. An electronic sensor automatically delvers the solution into the user’s hands.

The solution is alcohol-free so it doesn’t sting your hands and it dries instantly without damaging the skin.

Call Now on *,)) 0/2 2/0 or email at info@staycleanhands.com Visit StayCLEAN at www.staycleanhands.com

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• STAYCLEAN helps to reduce the spread of germs that may contribute to workplace absenteeism • STAYCLEAN helps to discharge your duty-of-care and OHS & W obligations in workplace environments with a high concentration of employees • Enhance your level of customer care in high traƥc areas such as airport lounges, waiting rooms, bank branches, food courts and wash rooms • Increase your customers’ loyalty by providing a service that shows that you care for them • Lower cost per application at less than half a cent per single use • Advertise OHS & W messages, workplace regulations, customer promotions or your own brand if you install the STAYCLEAN DELUXE and MAXI STAYCLEAN models.

Thinking Management

Psychic Income

By DEAN MINETT

we feel when we buy a new car, new clothes, or just do something that makes us feel better.

was emailing with a good friend recently about the benefits of receiving a title change without money, and he suggested that for some people, this was an example of “psychic income”.

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I thought he was joking (the person could imagine they were earning more?), but he then sent me a quite detailed email noting that this was in fact a serious phenomenon, examined by economists and philosophers.

I thought he was still having me on, so I looked it up, and found it is a serious subject, being discussed in many academic articles and journals since 1906! (Boy, are we behind!)

For the benefit of those (like me) that had not heard of it, one definition is “income in a form other than monetary. Psychic income gratifies psychological and emotional needs.

Power, prestige, recognition, and fame are all forms of psychic income” or “the level of satisfaction derived from a job rather than the salary earned doing it”. In other words, it is the benefit we receive without money.

Sometimes, psychic income is in direct contrast to financial income, as we may have to lose, or spend, money to receive it. Weird huh? It can also be used to describe the way

Understanding this concept as it applies in hospitality then is quite useful for our interactions with staff and guests alike. In fact these definitions allow us to better understand why some people work in a particular job even though they could maybe work elsewhere for more money, and, why some guests like to make a particular purchase. It is therefore useful to understand for both HR and marketing purposes.

For example, with staff we often cannot recompense them as much as in other industries but we can try and provide other benefits.These may include new job title (Executive Manager, Junior Vice President, Deputy Director), or perhaps other benefits (new office, recognition in staff newsletters or being allowed to work on a particular project).

For guests, they are generating a lot of their own psychic income when they decide to shout themselves a night in a 5-star hotel or dine in an up-market restaurant, because it makes them feel better about themselves and if we understand this, we can position ourselves better to meet this need. In fact, positive psychic income may help someone become more confident about themselves and this in turn makes the rest of their relationships better.

They spend money in return for feeling good.

That is not to say that everyone should just spend money to feel better, however it explains that there are reciprocal benefits to some actions that are not always obvious. (There is always a reciprocal benefit; as Hannibal Lecter said: “Quid pro quo Clarice, quid pro quo”).

As managers in hospitality, we often talk about other benefits we can provide our staff,

but I had not ever thought about it terms of income. Trust the economists to try and measure it!

To assist us become more competitive in attracting and keeping staff and customers then, it may be worth trying to document ideas for generating psychic income.

Naturally the items considered income will vary from person to person, however some may include: For staff: • New title (Executive Senior Vice President perhaps?)

• Provision of parking space • Business cards • Involvement in a major project • Inclusion on a management committee • Use of laptop or mobile • Sending on Business trips • Professional development training Or for Guests: • Complimentary upgrades • Recognition in newsletters • Frequent flyer/stayer program • Favourite beer in the fridge; or, my favourite: • Just being recognised!! (“Welcome back Mr Thomas!”)

As the economy continues its slow turn, many businesses will once again be forced to consider how to best keep staff without necessarily paying them more. They will also worry about how to keep customers without it costing too much.

I could suggest psychic income – but you probably knew that already! ■

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From possum, sheep & cotton, to using man-made fibres

By MAX AGNEW

from his own expanding flocks of sheep into tweed.

In later years Marcus Saltau became a driving force behind this company helping it to remain among Australia’s largest and best known manufacturers of blankets.

It was here in 1958 that the first electric blankets in Australia were trialled and then manufactured.

The company on several occasions rejected moves from the nation’s other major manufacturer of blankets, Onkaparinga in South Australia, later preferring to sell the Warrnambool-based business to Dunlop in 1968 when all was not well financially.

Onkaparinga Woollen Company finally did get its hands on the Warrnambool business in 1982 when Dunlop did agree to accept the latest offer.

ach of us has had a long involvement using blankets.

If you believe there’s been little change in the way blankets have been manufactured down through the years, you are very much wrong.

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The first type of blanket in Australia actually predates the arrival of those first ships loaded with convicts, as some aborigines in the areas that became New South Wales and Victoria, did use possum pelts sewn together with kangaroo sinew for a blanket.

Woollen blankets served Australia’s needs for many years, proving an important part in keeping our armies warm through two major world wars and beyond.

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This writer had his first introduction to how blankets were manufactured when at school in the late 1940’s. One of the few special outings then was the annual school excursion by bus down to Warrnambool to be shown over the local woollen mills that was then producing a healthy share of Australia’s blankets.

To this stage, all commercial blankets in Australia were made of wool or cotton, fabrics that had served the industry well for so many years.

It seemed fine then when blankets were rarely washed to simply just go on using them. Not really a healthy situation on today’s reckoning.

This popular seaside area had first been settled in 1847. Just six years later local businessman Robert Hood took over a struggling meat preserving business, converting this building into the Warrnambool Woolen Mills (with woollen then spelt with a single l).

However, the expansion of the hospitality, health and age care industries about this time saw them become major users of blankets. Hotels soon found that when they began washing the wool and cotton blankets, these fabrics did not stand up too well to such treatment, especially after many US States legislated washing after every guest.

Hood took over this rather large building for the purpose of converting the wool

So began a search around the world for another option, with the move on to develop

man-made fibres that would allow blankets to be washed regularly without shrinkage and other side effects.

The Vellux blanket was developed and patented by American technologists in the J.P. Stevens organisation in 1983. These manmade fibres responded positively to demands for even a daily commercial laundered product that would retain its shape and effectiveness.

Since then more than 160 million Vellux blankets have been sold worldwide, usually to accommodation operations, as the fibres used in these were not only extremely warm, but could be washed daily and thrown into the dryer and never needing ironing.

There are numerous types of blankets being manufactured today, including wool from Alpaca and Mohair, while in New Zealand the Government bounty on the huge numbers of possums there has revived a thriving industry of blankets made from possum pelt fibre.

In seeking a few answers to our questions about man-made fibres, we sought out John Collins, the man whose company heads up Vellux blankets for Australia and the South Pacific.

He explained how Vellux uses Du Pont Nylon Velour, using a three-layered system of flocking (fabric welding).

“This includes starting with a thermal core before velouring on each side 10 days apart.

“It is this central core of thermal that traps the body heat so you have warmth without weight.

“An injection of mesh of nylon that is very thin is introduced that enables the finished fabric to remain extremely light and washable.”

Collins said how there have now been more than 160 million Vellux blankets sold worldwide, because accommodation houses and their guests have found them to be the ideal blanket.

“I have seen Vellux blankets that have been constantly washed over nine years and they

remain in perfect condition because the central core remains soft and supple.

“I believe these blankets are the lightest in the world, and certainly are rated one of the warmest, while after washing, you simple toss them into a dryer and do not have to iron them.”

He explained how some establishments might choose quilt bedding because it looks good. “But these heavier weights can tire staff by being time-consuming and having some difficulty in changing quilt covers, plus the problems you have laundering such bulk and weights,” he added.

John Collins took over the business from his father, and is delighted how both his two sons and daughter have followed in the family tradition and now have key roles with the company.

To keep up with supply and demand, the Vellux blanket is now also available for retail buyers from Myer and David Jones department stores and is reputed to be Australia’s No 1 warmth without weight blanket. ■

Life Lessons From My Cat

By Robert Evans Wilson Jr.

Once upon a time, I met a beautiful, charming and witty woman and fell deeply in love.

Over the months we dated, I was the consummate romantic. I brought her flowers, wrote heartfelt love letters and on occasion, even sang to her. At one point she remarked that no one had ever treated her better. Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, she left me. I was devastated. When I asked her why, she replied, “You never listened to me.”

I had no clue what she was talking about. Of course I listened to her. Didn’t I know her favourite foods, music and vacation spots?

Absolutely! I also knew of her past struggles, her frustrations at work and even her dreams for the future. Apparently it was not enough. In retrospect, I finally figured out the problem was that I had been too busy following the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Remarkably, it wasn’t my ex-girlfriend who taught me this lesson, it was my cat. One morning while I was enjoying my coffee on the back porch, Roxy came up to my chair and meowed for attention. I picked her up, held her and started rubbing her soft fur. I knew from past experience that she didn’t like that, and she immediately began to squirm and try to jump out of my arms. Nevertheless – in the spirit of Albert Einstein’s observation that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results – I hoped that she would start liking it.

Finally, I turned her loose on my lap and petted her. She became very affectionate and gave me lots of nudges with her head and purred

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loudly. I used to think that my other cat, Spike, was the more loving cat because he likes to be held and cuddled, which is of course, what “I” want to do with a cat. Roxy does not like to be cuddled, and when I attempt it all she does is try to escape. I’ve learned that she still wants loving and wants to give it back, but it has to be her way. I realized it is that behaviour which causes many people to see cats as aloof and unresponsive.

As Roxy worked her way around my lap, rubbing her face against my arms, legs, chest and face, I thought, “Everyone comes into our lives for a reason – usually to teach us something.” I looked at Roxy and said, “What are you here to teach me?”

Then it dawned on me that she was there to teach me the Platinum Rule: “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.” In contrast to the Golden Rule which is all about “Me,” the Platinum Rule is all about ‘’You.’’ The Golden Rule is about “Controlling.” The Platinum Rule is about “Giving.”

In other words, to motivate someone, give them what they want.

I should have known this intuitively from the years I spent in the advertising business. I have taught hundreds of seminars where I advised my students, “When you create an ad, always put the

prospect first; because when they see or hear it, all they are thinking is: What’s In It For Me?” I’m reminded again of the wisdom of Dale Carnegie who noted, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” To do that he advises: “Be a good listener; encourage others to talk about themselves; talk in terms of the other person’s interests; make them feel important - and do it sincerely.”

He then adds, “When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bustling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.”

Now, wait a minute ... surely, he’s talking about cats! ■

Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. is a motivational speaker and humorist.

He works with companies that want to be more competitive and with people who want to think like innovators. For more information on Robert’s programs please visit www.jumpstartyourmeeting.com.

Reprinted with permission of IEHA from Executive Housekeeping Today.

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HOTEL EMPLOYEE SECURITY Working alone in a guest room After multiple reports in the media regarding the incidents at the Sofitel and the Pierre Hotels in New York, the safety of Room Attendants, working alone in a guest room has been highlighted as a major issue. A system needs to be in place to protect our colleagues.

Below are some suggestions: ■ Set up a safe standard.

■ Ensure you communicate this standard to all your colleagues so they are in no doubt that they can report anything to you and that they have your full support.

■ Consider if working in pairs is an option.

■ Consider if a panic alarm is available.

The following could be a working procedure:

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■ If he asks you why, say “sorry, this is the procedure I am required to follow”.

■ If the guest is a lady and you feel comfortable, you can start your work.

■ Your security has to be the prime consideration. Ensure you report any unacceptable behaviour from a guest. Even if this behaviour did not disturb you, it may be disturbing to another colleague.

■ Use the correct entry procedure for entering an occupied room.

■ Do not leave the door open, this is a security issue, a person passing by could easily enter the room.

■ Before proceeding to clean, check all areas inside to ensure the room is empty, especially in suites.

■ If guests come into the room while you are cleaning, follow the above procedures as though the guest is in the room.

■ If the guest is in the room, ask the guest when you can return to clean his room.

■ Ensure that you use your own master key and do not open doors for others.

■ Return when the guest is out.

This article was reprinted with permission from the UK Housekeepers Association (UKHA). For more information visit: www.ukha.co.uk

■ If the guest insists that you clean the room and does not wish to leave, inform him

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that you will come back shortly with a colleague.

Di-Hydrogen Monoxide on the brain?

By BRIAN CLARK

One of the major discussions on the internet over recent years has centred on the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO), which is also known as Hydronium Hydroxide, Oxidane or Hydroxic acid.

DiHydrogen Monoxide, a powerful and reactive chemical agent is able to enter the body through inhalation, ingestion or via skin absorption. Inhaling high concentrations of DHMO will bring about unconsciousness and death in as little as two minutes and is responsible for significant injury and fatalities globally.

Human exposure to the potentially harmful chemical, DHMO, is on the increase with large quantities reportedly being released through global warming. High levels of DHMO have been identified in recent mud slides in Peru and in floods in USA, Europe and Australia. According to the Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division www.dhmo. org, DHMO is a constituent of many known toxic substances, diseases and disease-causing agents, environmental hazards and can even be lethal to humans in quantities as small as a thimbleful.

Cleaners are exposed daily to large concentrations of DHMO, as it is a chemical ingredient in all cleaning solutions including soaps, detergents & rinse aids and they should always wear appropriate protective equipment when dealing with these substances. DHMO is widely used as a food additive and a fire extinguishing agent and is now present in all our rivers, streams and in large quantities in the world’s oceans and seas.

If you are alarmed by this information, then you have been deceived by a mixture of gobbledygook based on basic chemistry and exaggerated analysis. DHMO in all it’s forms is simply H20 or water, but this hoax has duped millions of people worldwide for the last 20 years.

It’s relevance to cleaning is an example of how the use of scientific sounding jargon with clever marketing can be used to prey on emotions to deprecate established cleaning products and technologies in favour of a new product or new ‘scientific breakthrough’.

In some instances, it is a case of those who should know better preying on those that don’t, and such practices are prevalent in promoting cleaning solutions in both commercial and retail markets.

Some of the warning signs to look for in this sort of presentation include nonsensical claims such as ‘no chemicals’, ‘chemical free’ cleaning. Every single substance on earth is a chemical or a combination of chemicals, with the human body, and indeed life itself, being composed of complex chemical systems and ongoing chemical reactions. To claim that a substance or a product is chemical free is therefore patent & obviously misleading nonsense designed to sway your purchasing decision.

I am not trying to say that these ‘non-chemical’ chemical products are not beneficial in some way, but in many cases they offer no more benefit than the existing cleaning solution and may actually increase cleaning costs. Cleaning chemicals are labelled chemicals because that is what they are, pure and simple, and rightly so, and as is pointed out above with DHMO, any chemical can kill you, even the most benign, if you use it or are exposed to it in the wrong way.

So take care when you are next presented with a wondrous new ‘green chemical-free’ product. More than likely the environmental damage will be to the green in your wallet.

Brian has over 20 years experience in practical applications with commercial cleaning equipment. His company, Janitech Australasia, provides specialised cleaning consultancy and contract performance management programs and services for Facility Management, education, hospitality industry and government. He can be contacted on 0414 944615 or janitech@janitech.com.au or via his website www.cleaningconsultant.com.au ■

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HOUSEKEEPER

Product News Always consider Australian Made first!

LAUNDRY TAKES A TURN FOR THE BETTER Diversey’s innovative Clax® Revoflow™ system is the first on the market to support precise controlled dosing of laundry powders.

The dispenser unit is compact and wall mounted for greater convenience and to help create a neat and tidy laundry. The modular design allows different products to be installed by simply adding another dispenser to the base unit. Chemicals are moved off the floor to reduce the risk of trip and slip hazards, one of the biggest causes of accidents in On Premise Laundries. Lieght weight 4kg and 4L ergonomic packs means your laundry doesn’t have to stop and wait for chemicals to be replaced. It is small enough for anyone to handle and helps reduce manual handling injuries keeping laundries safer and your staff happy.

The subject of 17 new patent applications, Clax Revoflow’s innovations include a unique four-colour LED problem-solving indicator for simpler operation with reduced errors, electronic wash cycle counting for accurate performance feedback, and a totally new type of self-contained dispensing mechanism for completely accurate dosing with improved cleaning performance and consistency. This unique and completely self-contained modular system is designed for use with newly formulated concentrates in Diversey’s high performance Clax laundry range to deliver enhanced performance, higher quality, improved cost control and better sustainability.

Like other Diversey systems, Clax Revoflow further promotes sustainability through the combination of concentrates with reduced and recyclable packaging.

This minimises the environmental impact and “chemical miles” associated with each cleaning task.

Further information contact Diversey on 1800 647 779 or at www.diversey.com

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Bed Shawl folded in half

THE BRAND NEW

“Bed Shawl” Available in quilted or unquited styles The very latest style in Hotel bedcovering from HotelHome Australia, this country’s leading innovators in Hotel Textiles, is the “Bed Shawl”.

This attractive and very versatile bed covering, can be displayed as a large bed runner or a foot cap style cover. Whilst it does cover more of the vulnerable areas on a bed which is a big plus

The Bed Shawl style can be manufactured in both quilted or unquilted styles and certain HotelHome fabric widths suit each style. Any of the HotelHome cushion styles can also be produced in the same fabrics to coordinate with this stylish bed cover. Because these products are made to order in the HotelHome fabric and colour of the clients choice, there is a minimum of 20 units over assorted sizes in the one fabric.

The HotelHome benefits: • Australian designed • Best quality Italian yarns • Australian manufactured

Bed Shawl presented as a foot cap

Bed Shawl presented as a wide runner

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where white triple sheeting is being exposed, it also adds more life in design and colour to a very dull room where these important elements are lacking.

For more information on the Bed Shawl or any other products appearing on our website or to receive a quotation, simply email enquiries@hotelhome.com.au or phone customer service on 1800 HOTELHOME and HotelHome will provide a quotation within 24hours, Monday to Friday.

Telephone : 1800 HOTELHOME (1800 468 354) E-mail : enquiries@hotelhome.com.au Website : www.hotelhome.com.au

The Executive

HOUSEKEEPER

Product News

GODFREYS COMMERCIAL MAINTAINS SOLID ONGOING INVESTMENT STRATEGY Having recently completed its first 12 months of operation, Godfreys Commercial has achieved its initial goals of marketshare growth and higher sales across all categories. With a raft of marketing and operational initiatives already under its belt, the national distributor is poised to ‘opení its online trading website as well as open more physical Hub sites.

“It’s been a very busy launch year and we have made great strides,” noted Godfreys Commercial’s director Henrik Thorup.

“Importantly, we now have clear brand distinctions in that our recently debuted Purecare brand covers Godfreys’ chemical and consumable offerings while Pullman covers equipment.

“This has been a major re-branding exercise and one that will prove most worthwhile,” he emphasised.

In fact, Godfreys has launched six new Pullman machines, being two canister vacs, two carpet cleaning extractors, a backpack vac and a floor polisher.

The product ranging and branding initiatives have been complemented with organizational enhancements including more physical presence as well as greater staff numbers.

“We now have six company-owned Hub stores with another eight sites identified for development. And due to overwhelming interest from existing Godfreys’ franchisees there are 10 stores earmarked for commercial ranges.

“The stores are supported by three dedicated logistic centres located in Melbourne, Perth and

Auckland. They will stand us in good stead when we go on-line “ “We also have three state-of-the-art service centres situated in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth,” explained Thorup.

With the larger infrastructure in place, Godfreys Commercial’s marketing manager Kim Hiland has overseen an increase in television advertising spend and catalogue print and distribution volumes.

Dedicated wholesale sales execs are employed in all major Hub stores and a full scale customer service in Sydney is playing a key role in the company’s marketing strategy.

“Some 200 key accounts have been opened, which in turn are being serviced by the call centre,” Thorup said.

Possibly the largest marketing investment is Godfreys Commercial’s website that will go ‘live’ early in the new 2011/2012 financial year. It will be backed with an appropriate launch geared to drive traffic to its portal.

Planning is also well advanced for the launch of 100% commercial stores … to-date the Hub stores have been dual commercial/domestic.

“We have worked hard in order that Godfreys Commercial can be master of its own destiny in what is a highly competitive arena. That means controlling all facets of the business, from sourcing product ranges through to delivery and after sales service.

“What has been achieved in the first year augers well for 2011/2012,” Thorup concluded.

Article run with permission of InClean Magazine.

Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley Resort And Optii Keeper Partner To Improve Productivity A 21% productivity increase has been recorded at the Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley only two months into the deployment of Optii Keeper.

Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley Resort, a member of the Intercontinental Hotels Group, deployed Optii Keeper in late March 2011 with a focus on achieving additional efficiencies to its housekeeping department. Building on improved practices introduced by a new Executive Housekeeper in late 2010, the key challenge was to overcome the ‘tyranny’ of distance in a resort property spread over a large area.

“This is a fantastic result to date and credit needs to go to all parties involved.” says Greg Dicks, Financial Controller of the hotel. “Even after making adjustments for changes in our general operating environment, Optii is without doubt a major component in the improvements when comparing housekeeping efficiency against the same time last year. This has facilitated a saving that has already paid for Optii Keeper.”

“Our team took to Optii Keeper like ducks to water.” adds Dianne Vidler, Executive Housekeeper. “Therefore we were able to capitalise on the additional efficiencies straightaway and also take advantage of other operational benefits like a faster turnaround of rooms. Now that we have measurable information on the performance of the department and our colleagues available, managing the department has not only become easier, but also more effective.”

The team at Optii Solutions is naturally thrilled with the results achieved by the hotel. “Optii Keeper is all about enabling hotels to achieve efficiencies in their operation. Housekeeping has suffered from a glass ceiling for many decades, imposed by the traditionally manual process of managing the resources in the department.” says Soenke Weiss, CEO of Optii Solutions.

“The transparency, automation and ability to remotely manage the team from a single location enables previously unthinkable results. ‘What gets measured gets managed’ truly comes alive in housekeeping in the 21st century.”

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HOUSEKEEPER

Product News

All About Me Keep it simple with All About Me. After a hugely successful launch, Interior Images is proud to bring to you again the Australian owned and inspired All About Me guest amenity range. Available to hotels and resorts looking for a simple and economical way to enchant guests with a stimulating hotel bathing experience.

With an Australian inspired formulation, the All About Me range contains a blend of Indigenous lemongrass and eucalyptus essential oils. The zesty scent is refreshing to the senses, and will provide guests with an invigorating and cleansing experience.

All About Me is also free from artificial colours, does not contain animal-derived ingredients and is not tested on animals.

The eco-chic and easy to use flip top tubes are recyclable – making it a smart and environmentally friendly addition to any bathroom.

The All About Me collection features four liquid products available in 30ml size tubes: Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash and Body Lotion. Also available is a triple milled ‘lemongrass’ soap and a ‘Care for Me’ box containing essential necessities, such as shower cap, vanity kit, sanitary bag and mending kit.

Furthermore, for every All About Me tube purchased, one cent will be donated to the Australian charity TLC for Kids. TLC for Kids is devoted to putting smiles back on the faces of sick children, and assisting the families who have put their lives on hold to look after their sick child.

We simply want to make more sick children smile again.

All About Me is now available exclusively from International Interior Images. For more information on this new range, please contact our Sales Team on (03) 9673 1444 or info@interior-images.com.au.

International Interior Images Register now for education sessions at Ausclean

Sea World Resort and Water Park rolls out Environmentally Responsible Bathroom Amenities!

26–28 September 2011 Jupiter’s Hotel & Casino, Gold Coast

Sea World Resort & Water Park has introduced a range of biodegradable Eco Pure Guest Amenities.

AUSCLEAN’S education program has been designed to deliver information across a wide range of subjects including sustainability, healthcare, hard floor maintenance and carpet cleaning and plenty more.

The beautiful range has a true environmental feel and carries the brand name Eco Pure across its range of guest bathroom exclusively made by Concept Amenities.The packaging, featuring 15ml biodegradable tubes; is manufactured with Eco Pure®, an organic additive, which allows plastic to fully biodegrade within a few years in landfill conditions. The fragrance in this range has been specifically formulated, and has a invigorating lemon citrus fragrance.

With sixteen speakers, 6 workshops, 3 full day conferences and more than ten other sessions there is something for everyone. * For the first time in Australia, Bill Griffin will be presenting on Emerging Trends and Issues for Cleaning Professionals and also Success and Failure – A Heart Beat Apart; * Lennox Institute have six session covering Women in Cleaning Management; Introduction to Forensic Cleaning (this will sell out – book fast!);What does it take to start up a cleaning business; Cleaning in Health & Aged Care * WoolSafe are bringing Dr Agnes Zsednai to Australia as one of four experts presenting at a full day workshop, 27th September – click here for the complete line up… * Bob Spencer, from the USA is offering a new course “Understanding Heat Drying” which explores the transformational effect drying with heat can achieve in the restoration of a flood damaged building; * Jena Dyco and Mycologia are also presenting a day conference on Mould

Book now – call 1300 789 845 or visit www.auscleanconvention.com.au

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“There is a growing trend world wide for properties to use more environmentally friendly packaging. We are excited that Sea World Resort & Water Park has chosen to use one of our Environmentally Responsible Product ranges, it sends a positive green message to everyone that stays at this great Queensland resort,” explains Steve Duggan, Director of Marketing & Communications for Concept Amenities Sea World Resort & Water Park General Manager Ernst Pfister said that Sea World Resort offers its guests a great range of quality products and choosing environmentally responsible products is an important factor.