Sharing by Ms Katya Herting on how she applied her Sydney learning experience to Singapore context

1. Replicating the Sydney Housekeeping Experience In
Singapore
KATYA HERTING
9th March 2012

2. AGENDA
• BUSINESS INDICATORS
• AUSTRALIAN EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
• FOREIGN LABOR SOLUTION
• AUSTRALIAN’S BEST PRACTICES
• PRODUCTIVITY PRATICES AT SWISSOTEL THE STAMFORD
• OUR CURRENT SITUATION
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3. BUSINESS INDICATORS
83% AVERAGE Occupancy in the city during the last quarter of 2011
AU $295 REVPAR (5* Hotels)=SGD$ 371
Top players: Hilton, IHG, ACCOR (4 Hotels),Shangri-La, Marriot, St
Regis
No new openings in the last 15 years(rates are too low & costs are
too high)
10% less visitors during 2011 attributed to the crisis in Europe and
the US
40% employee turnover in Sydney
5.2% unemployment in the country
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4. AUSTRALIAN EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
AU$15/hour (Full Time and Part Time employee) + benefits
AU$15/hour (Casual Labor +20% since no other benefits)
AU$10/room (outsourcing)
38hrs/week
AL=4 weeks/year +1 week for late shift workers and 1 week for
employees working longer than 5 years in the same company
11 PH’s/year
9% contribution by the employer for retirement fund
As such “labor cost” is the highest cost in the P&L (In average 40%)
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5. FOREIGN LABOR SOLUTION
“Management Positions Only” since there is a minimum wage of
AU$42,000/year to award work permit
Students are rather popular in the banqueting business (20hrs/week
maximum)
Departments in the Back of House ARE OUTSOURCED:
 Housekeeping, Stewarding, Public Areas, Laundry are outsourced for
mainly 2 reason’s: Cost/Hr and insurance premiums due to work
related injuries.
 Charges are based as per ROOM CLEANED.
 Outsourcing Companies have the needed quantities of workers to cover
the market’s needs.
 Outsourcing Companies are more than 15 years in the industry. Quality
KPI’s (following company goals) are established in the contract with
penalties if goals are not fulfilled.
 Outsourced workers are treated as part of the company
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6. AUSTRALIAN’S BEST PRACTICES
Leading positions are assign to Full Time; the rest are fulfilled with Part
Time (students) and Casual Labor
Medical Leave and Absenteeism Policies are controlled
Labor Cost and Labor Law Training for Managers is compulsory
Implementation of Labor Management System (Scheduler, T&A/Payroll
System, Daily Labor Expenses report, Labor Forecast report)
Engage Outsourcing companies in Department like Housekeeping,
Laundry, Stewarding, Public Areas
Cross deployment between F&B outlets is very common, not so in
banquets (Casual Labor only). Dept’s like Front Office, Concierge, Valet
are areas for cross deployment too and considered as one department in
many Hotels
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7. AUSTRALIAN’S BEST PRACTICES
Online Training (New Hire Orientation, Property Manager System,
Hotel Certifications)
Job sharing (secretary in the morning, evening reservations agent
Reduce Turnover:
• Company loyalty employee card: free night stay/year worked, discounts
with partner companies
• Overseas Company transfer, specific for the Generation Y (career
advancement)
• Flexible working hours (Revenue Management from home)
Leave Planning (reduces MC rates, friendlier place to work,
decreases stress levels
Technology: simplify work processes, implement tools (smart
working)
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8. RODUCTIVITY PRATICES AT SWISSOTEL THE STAMFORD
Productivity Quality Manager : Main Task is to review SOP’s
(simplification/remain actual), study work flows, quality audits
(discovering trends)
Ideas Count Program
Day in a life of ……………(ANY POSITION) workflow
Develop time & motion studies
Suggests and review tools (green card) and technologies (Rex/Optii-
keeper)
Watsons LMS (Labor Management System)
Cross deployment (Room Attendant’s became runners, waiters,
valets) increasing their benefits and loyalty towards the company
(Total 3245 hrs from Jul-Dec 2011)
Training Hrs : 24.5 hrs of training/colleague
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10. OUR CURRENT SITUATION
91% average Occupancy during 2011 
In Housekeeping we have enough workers to support 75%
Occupancy. Whatever above 75% is considered OT 
Assisted by the Labor Management System decreased our OT levels
by 8% in comparison to 2010 
Decrease Medical Leaves from 2010 of average 2.76 days per year
per colleague to 2.50 in 2011 (245 hrs) 
Turnover ratio decreased by 3% in comparison to 2010 (34.9% –
31.7%) 
Rehire all Mature workers without exception for a total of 11
colleagues 
3 Teams of Room attendants whom are fully independent (SIRA); no
supervision/allowance 
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11. OUR CURRENT SITUATION
2014 another 3000 rooms will be available in the city. /
Supervisor’s (S Pass), 18 (approved source), 13 (non approved
source) Colleagues required to renew their contract in the coming
months. 
Exploring the possibility of Outsourcing Housekeeping
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12. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION