In the modern world of hotelkeeping, the most important managers at the majority of properties are the executive housekeeper and chief engineer. As the executive committee at many hotels shrinks, housekeepers and engineers must take on additional responsibilities and, more importantly, assume key leadership roles in their hotels, management and ownership companies and even brand companies.

Homewood Suites, Hilton’s upscale extended-stay brand, recognizes this new dynamic in the industry and in response recently held a series of Suitekeeping and Maintenance Summits that brought together nearly 400 executive suitekeepers and chief engineers at four regional sites for two days each. The discussions covered some of the practical aspects of housekeeping and engineering but also sought to reinforce the attendees’ importance as leaders within their organizations.

Dawn Koenig, vice president of brand performance support for Homewood Suites by Hilton

“In the last couple of years, the time general managers have each day to act as mentors has shrunk, so it’s important executive suitekeepers and chief engineers step up their roles as leaders at their properties,” says Dawn Koenig, vice president of brand performance support for Homewood and the leader of the Summits. “And it’s important for us as a brand to give them the tools to affect change in their organizations.”

During one of the Summits in Chicago last month (other Summits were held in Phoenix, Dallas and Atlanta), the Homewood team stressed the brand’s various guest-facing programs and how suitekeepers and engineers can motivate their teams to provide quality service. Topics included Hilton HHonors (Homewood leads all brands in percentage of HHonors guests), LightStay (the company’s sustainability tracking initiative), Homewood’s Be At Home and OPOG (Outrageously Pleasing Our Guests) service cultures and I Am Sales (the brand’s efforts to get all employees to focus on revenue improvement).

The Huddle
A major focal point for Homewood managers is the daily huddle, the pre-shift meeting which management uses to share news and rev up the staff for the day. Frank Saitta, senior director of brand performance support, walked Summit attendees through the basics of a good huddle, which he says the managers should use to “create a vision.” As example, he showed a video of a rousing morning huddle at a Homewood in suburban Atlanta.

“There are three Cs to a successful huddle,” Saitta told the group. “First, it’s a time to celebrate successes, both professionally and personally. It should also be a time of collaboration in which all associates can contribute to the conversation. And finally, it is a time to communicate, in which managers update their teams on department and property goals, let them know what’s going on in the hotel and share with them their expectations for the day.”

Another subtle goal of the sessions was to get executive suitekeepers and chief engineers to work more closely together. One highlight was an exercise in which teams of housekeepers and engineers worked together to build an enclosure that would protect two uncooked eggs when they were dropped from the second story of the hotel atrium. At the Chicago Summit, two of 10 teams successfully completed the task without breaking the eggs.

Koenig says spending time with the suitekeepers and engineers helps the brand team do a better job of supporting their efforts. For example, the team learned these managers haven’t been receiving all of the necessary communications from brand headquarters. Now, instead of sending everything to GMs and hoping they share it with managers, the brand team will send pertinent newsletters and other information directly to the executive suitekeepers and chief engineers.

Executive suitekeepers and chief engineers collaborated to build a protective egg case. Two of 10 teams succeeded.

A Motivational Ending
Author, motivational speaker and former Homewood Suites marketing vice president Calvin Stovall concluded the Summit with an inspirational speech aimed at motivating attendees to produce more OPOG experiences at their hotels. He called for the group to maximize “moments of impact” that lead to “outrageous service.

“Your guests are promiscuous, and they’ll sleep around if you and your teams don’t treat them right,” he said. “Training is a key, but it’s hard to train for passion. Either you have it or you don’t.”

He said disengaged employees are the enemy and cost businesses billions of dollars a year in lost productivity and customer satisfaction. “As leaders, you must make sure your teams are engaged, connected and always in the game. But to do so, you must also be engaged with them. Homewood Suites can’t do it for you. We need your leadership and engagement.”

Calling them the “heart, rhythm and soul of the brand,” Stovall exhorted the attendees not to become “one-hit wonders. You need to consistently deliver your best every day. Your beat needs to be unique and your tune special so guests can’t get it out of their minds and hearts.”