Adapt or Stay Behind: Metrics to Watch in Housekeeping

Despite the changes to the hotel industry over the last year, the use of metrics has remained essential for general managers. Yet, as we have adapted to the pandemic, some Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) will have shifted as many hotels prioritize the cost of their operations. 

Now, more than ever, keeping on top of KPI’s is essential to ensure that efficiency does not compromise guest safety. There are various numbers used by hotels to determine KPI’s and it can be daunting to know which ones to prioritize and manage. That’s why we wanted to set out five key metrics we believe are important to measure so that your housekeeping team can adapt to the new normal and you can monitor your P&L more efficiently.

1. Average Cleaning Times

This metric is the average time spent cleaning a guest room and helps to measure how long members of staff take to complete a cleaning activity from start to finish. This has always been one of the most important metrics in housekeeping as it is directly linked to budget and has become especially important in the current climate. Measuring and monitoring average cleaning time helps hotel managers control both their cost and the overall Gross Operating Profit (GOP).

Optii enables managers to track and trace audit trails and keep on top of average cleaning time through automation, providing them added visibility into the real cost of their housekeeping operation. This insight can also be used to optimize room attendant routes through our predictive technology and improve your efficiency.

2. Variance Cleaning Times

This is used to indicate the performance of room attendants by calculating the difference between scheduled cleaning times and actual cleaning times. During these challenging times with additional cleaning protocols adding more time to each clean, hotel managers can use this to provide a suggested time for cleaning so that housekeeping teams can realistically get the job done on time.

With increased cleaning tasks in the new normal, this is a great KPI to help manage the productivity of your team. Optii provides solutions to enable you to keep track of negative variance in real-time, re-route room attendants to new tasks, and ultimately enable the best guest experience.

3. Moving Around Time

Moving around time is sometimes considered the ‘hidden cost’ of housekeeping as it measures the time spent on non-cleaning activities. Often, this will be measured in minutes per room and is used to highlight when the amount of non-productive time being spent by staff risks sending operations over-budget. Particularly as hotels operate on reduced staff levels in the current environment, keeping on top of this metric is essential.

Optii’s labor optimization means management can identify bottlenecks and ensure that time is spent in productive cleaning activities rather than unnecessary transit. Through our solution managers can configure room attendant cleaning routes so they are using the most efficient possible to optimize the operation. Optii’s technology also works in real-time so no member of staff is waiting for a change in instructions or schedule as it will be updated automatically and instantly.

4. Daily Inspection Quality Scores

Quality Scores have always been essential for the best possible guest experience, and as the world around us has changed it has been shifted to the top of every hotel’s agenda. This is because it measures the cleanliness of a room and has become integral to the safety of our guests. This metric enables management to identify trends in housekeeping, such as team performance and extra training requirements in order to maintain key standards.

You can check your team has the right training with Optii, as our solution provides an analysis report for each staff member which details their training requirements. The Optii mobile app also enables employees to view their list of tasks that need to be completed by room type which will often help increase quality scores overall as employees can use it as a reference guide and managers can update it with any new protocols or procedure changes.

5. Turnaround Times

This is used to measure two critical components. These are the time elapsed between check-out and cleaning as well as between a supervisor’s room release to guest arrival. Shorter turnaround times are an indicator of a healthy and productive housekeeping team and will lead to higher guest satisfaction.

Contactless and social distancing are new priorities for hotels in light of COVID-19 and are essential to make certain guests are confident to stay at your hotel. Teams need to work together to reduce guests congregating in the lobby and that rooms are available upon arrival, and so turnaround times are more important than ever to measure the flow of guests into their rooms.

Optii enables managers to centralize operations so they have full visibility of turnaround times and can track all job activities to guarantee this process is as efficient as possible and the guests still have the best experience upon arrival.

Don’t get left behind…

We know it can be easy to get lost in the numbers… but they are essential to ensuring your operations are running efficiently. With our solutions, operations can be adapted on the go and managers can provide each team member with their own clear KPI’s so your team can work smarter, not harder.

Is it time for your team to adapt with Optii? Check out our eBook The Optii Journey, to see how Optii works on property from an Optii users perspective.