Housekeeping can make or break the resort experience of an owner or guest. Most commonly, resort housekeeping is taken for granted until something goes wrong. A negative comment or two can suddenly thrust housekeeping into the spotlight. To stay out of the spotlight and to operate the department efficiently, housekeeping requires a talented manager, and one of the biggest challenges the manager faces is employee turnover. Why are employees leaving? Changes in management? Changes in policies? Seasonal employment? Realistically, you can never stop employee turnover, so how do you control or minimize it?

Some resorts have established an exit interview for employees who leave a position. Some questions that might be asked include:

• Why have you decided to leave?
• How was the job different from your expectations?
• Did you have a clear understanding of the job?
• Was your training adequate?
• Did anything prevent you from being able to perform your job?
• How different is your new job from the one you had here?

Analyze the results:

• Are the same positions turning over?
• What are the common reasons?
• Have you conducted an employee survey?

What is the turnover percentage for your resort? A simple formula can speak volumes:

NUMBER OF TERMINATIONS/NUMBER OF POSITIONS x 100 = Turnover % (To calculate turnover for a specific department, include only the number of terminations and positions within that department)

In housekeeping, even the simplest item can be important to your staff if it keeps them from affectively performing their jobs. Be sure to provide chemicals and vacuums that work, maintain vehicles at all times, perform consistent inventories on all supplies, linens, and equipment, emphasize safety training, and most importantly…communicate with the staff regularly!

“When new employees are not trained properly, they are being prepared for failure.”