It is important to be aware that if you choose to store electronic records in folders on shared drives onto which no formal controls have been put in place, then your records will remain at risk of potential alteration or deletion.
Access controls can be used to mitigate this risk by regulating the number of users who can create, access, edit or delete records stored in particular folders.
You can also use them to restrict access to more sensitive information. Maintaining complicated access controls is resource intensive so it may be more practical to keep the folder groups to which access permissions are assigned relatively simple. Password controls are better avoided as much as possible. Where simple passwords are used they will only provide a low level of security and if passwords are forgotten you run the risk of losing access to your records.
While access controls can provide some measure of protection, they are not a panacea. If your records are required to demonstrate evidential value and you cannot guarantee this within their electronic environment then this approach may not be appropriate for your organisation.
Printing electronic records to paper to keep on a registered file in your physical record keeping system cannot be a preferred option. There is a cost attached to both printing and paper storage and you should balance this against the cost of implementing and maintaining a system which is capable of managing electronic records in their original format. Environmental considerations should also be taken into account. Naming records consistently by following set conventions can greatly improve the storage and retrieval of records.
The chief identifier of any record is its name. Records that are named coherently are naturally easier to manage. By giving a record a consistent and logical description you will make it easier to differentiate between similar records at a glance.
Users will find it more straightforward to browse and access information. Adhering to agreed conventions also makes the naming of records simpler as colleagues do not have to reconsider the naming process each time. If you are using a folder structure on your file system that replicates your corporate file plan, then the names of the folders should as far as possible correspond to titles used within the file plan.
When you create and save a document you must give it a name. This name will be the primary way you and your colleagues locate and identify that document in the future. The name will also help you relate the document it describes to other documents.
So it is important that you give it a suitable name. Document names should contain enough information to give a user who may see the document out of context, separated from its parent folder, an understanding of what the document concerns and its purpose. Document names should be as descriptive as possible while retaining meaning and consistency of approach. Create other folders within these main folders as need arises. A folder named for a client might include the folders "customer data" and "correspondence".
The goal is to have every file in a folder rather than having a bunch of orphan files listed. Do not create complex, deeply-layered folder structures. Wherever possible use descriptive file names instead. Some operating systems such as Unix do not allow spaces in file or folder names, so avoid this if your computing environment is mixed. Under Windows the maximum full path length for a file e.
Give electronic files logical, specific names and include dates in file names if possible. The goal when naming files is to be able to tell what the file is about without having to open it and look. How will you know who the letter is to without opening it?
If you are sharing files via email or portable devices you may want to have the file name include more specific information, since the folder information will not be included with the shared file. The best time to file a document is when you first create it. So get in the habit of using the "Save As" dialogue box to file your document as well as name it, putting it in the right place in the first place.
If there are folders or files that you use a lot, force them to the top of the file list by renaming them with a! Sometimes what's old is obvious as in the example of the folder named "Invoices" above. If it's not, keep your folders uncluttered by clearing out the old files. Do not delete business related files unless you are absolutely certain that you will never need the file again. Instead, in your main collection of folders under your root folder, create a folder called "Old" or "Inactive" and move old files into it when you come across them.
Whether you're copying your files onto another drive or onto tape, it's important to set up and follow a regular back up regimen. Managing electronic documents should be part of an overall document management strategy for your business. A proper document management plan should include all aspects of handling documents, including storage, retrieval, backups, and security.
The search function is a wonderful thing but it will never match the ease of being able to go directly to a folder or file. Lastly, legacy issues with older team members passing on bad habits to new recruits can cast a long shadow when trying to institute process improvements or mitigate cleaning errors. Further aggravating this demotivation is the risk of repetitive strain injuries RSIs.
Cleaning 12 to 15 guest rooms per day takes its toll after many years on the job, especially when improper techniques or movement patterns are used.
While the most visible and costly effect of an injury is a leave of absence due to a short-term disability claim along with any subsequent insurance premium adjustments, many staffers might opt to push through the pain as they know their truancy would only distress their coworkers who would have to pick up their shifts.
Not only is seeing a colleague in agony discouraging, but the housekeeper who decides to stay on even with an RSI is likely only to exacerbate the injury to the point where it becomes debilitating. Lastly, a problem specific to certain geographic areas and with a greater tendency to occur in housekeeping over any other department is the potential for a language barrier to affect communications.
Many room attendants in North America are immigrants. Not only can a language barrier jumble constructive criticism from supervisors, but it can also interfere with customers interactions if, say, a guest makes a request from a housekeeper while passing through a corridor.
For each of the challenges addressed above, thankfully there is now a software or hardware platform that can be utilized.
All of these can then be tackled in terms of whether the results are immediate or evident over a longer period of time. And for the purposes of this discussion, these solutions will be kept bipartisan by not citing specific companies. Rest assured, though, all are well within reach.
The most abrupt game changer you can implement would be a holistic upgrade to your housekeeping management system, giving supervisors a greater degree of real-time control over their subordinates as well as broader analysis tools. Of course, these contemporary systems are all built upon integrations for more seamless cross-departmental communications as well as mobile apps to notify housekeepers already on the clock.
By connecting with the property management system PMS , check-ins at the front desk can instantly be relayed to the executive housekeeper who can then automatically ping his or her team about the updated priority list.
Additionally, mobile apps can allow housekeepers to directly send automated alerts and photos of odd situations to engineering, thereby letting them deal with any maintenance issues before guests notice. Similarly, lost and found can be immediately updated while security issues can be rapidly circulated for more effective coordination during onsite incidents or crises. You know up-to-the-minute who has cleaned what room and when, as well as whether any supplementary service requests were inputted.
Not only does this streamline room inspections, but errors brought up in online reviews can be traced back to specific team members for precise corrective retraining. Moreover, you will be able to identify which rooms take 20 minutes versus those that require extra attention in order to properly balance workloads and objectively assess output per room attendants, all of which in turn will decrease the average room turnaround time.
As for operational analytics, the same modern software that will help you automate shifts and staff communications will also allow you to better track cleaning times and more easily identify gaps in performance, floor routes or inventory.
When combined with your customer relationship management CRM database — most likely via PMS integration — these tools will allow you to make staffing and service adjustments based upon specific guest preferences. Combined together with real-time management, this translates to significantly improved productivity levels as you are able to hone your processes within months of accumulating metrics. Even with enhanced back-end systems to hone management of your team, housekeepers still need to be trained, retrained and motivated to perform at their best.
Much like the advantages of deploying new software interfaces, the key benefits here are heightened accountability and huge savings in labor costs. At the most basic level, there are mobile apps that can be white-labeled for your organization and used as instructional compendiums for new recruits.
Such platforms act as online access points for standard operating procedure manuals, training videos, assignments, quizzes, company bulletin boards, forums and private messaging.
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