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Hotel Happiness

11/06/2015

If you really want to know what makes a hotel successful, ask the people who are right on the frontline when it comes to customer service – housekeeping. It’s the perfect place to get your career in hospitality up and running, and you’ll earn as you learn from the day you start!


Haylee Keepa-Gordon hadn’t planned to go into the hospitality industry. Two years ago, she was a school leaver looking for work and her father saw an advertisement for a housekeeping job at Ibis Hotel. She applied and got the job.

Awesome opportunity

“It was awesome! It’s a great opportunity. Why would you ever pass that up?” says Haylee of on-job training at the Novotel.

So far, she’s managed to save for a holiday in Australia, and even better, gained a meaningful qualification with a National Certificate in Hospitality (Accommodation) Level 2.

“It looks great on my CV,” says Haylee of the qualification she gained with ServiceIQ and Accor Building Futures. “It’s a really good learning experience and I don’t have a student loan, which I’m really happy about.”

Housekeeping is “the spine of the hospitality business”, says Novotel HR manager Riti Sharma. As a room attendant, it’s Haylee’s responsibility to make sure each room looks spectacular when guests walk in. She also needs to get the details just right, such as making sure regular guests’ rooms are stocked with everything they need, including their favourite tea.

Haylee says: “It’s not just a job for us; it’s our culture at Accor that strives to create memorable guest as well as staff experience.”

Satisfaction

“I clean the rooms, dust, make up the beds, and make sure every surface and detail is very clean and tidy. I’m also a self-checker so I have to assess my rooms and ensure everything is perfect. Sometimes when I go into a room and see the big mess I have to clean it can be stressful. We do have hard days but I’m more used to it now.”

Haylee gets pleasure and job satisfaction from great reviews and working with her team. “The best thing about the job is when guests surprise me by appreciating what I do,” she says. “One of our regular guests thinks I’m an expert at bed making. She once made her own bed and got me to check that she’d done it properly!”

Haylee Keepa Gordon 005

A great culture

“I also work with a great group of people. Everyone is like family here – staff and guests. It’s a fun atmosphere, it’s really happy and we get on well. We have a lot of laughs. Our manager encourages us to give feedback and suggest ideas and improvements. It’s a great culture”.

Her next step in the hospitality industry is to cross-train on-job for a qualification and a role in front-of-house reception.

ServiceIQ offers the New Zealand Certificate in Hotel Reception level 4 as well as qualifications for many other departments of the hotel business.


If you would like to find out more about this or other Accommodation qualifications please contact us on 0800 863 693 or via intel@ServiceIQ.org.nz