Housekeepers form a much needed national level forum named Professional Housekeepers Association (PHA)
Housekeepers across all industries are singularly responsible for cleaning, maintaining and preserving of the buildings they take care of. Their job entails managing one of the most difficult departments of an organisation and they are responsible for the highest levels of hygiene and safety for workers, visitors and employees. Not much is spoken about the efforts and there are not many occasions when housekeepers are lauded for their achievements. Experts believe housekeeping is close to clinical practice when it comes to hygiene practices and safety standards. There are many associations and federations overseas that form a vital part of the cleaning industry, which involve housekeepers and provides them with constant upgrades, inputs on technology, work process and management. India is still in its nascent stage when it comes to recognising such forums for those in the industry.
It is to address this gap that the Professional Housekeepers Association (PHA) was formed recently in the city of Bengaluru, with the coming together of prominent housekeeping professionals. Housekeeping or housekeepers are not limited to hotels or hospitals and every industry needs a good housekeeper. PHA will provide interactive opportunities to this fraternity, conduct learning programmes, upskill management abilities, standardise practices and recognise outstanding personnel. The event was a platform to bring together eminent hotel housekeepers, hospitality educators, facility managers and hospitality vendors. The National board of PHA was inaugurated recently by P K Mohankumar, a wellknown hospitality industry expert with over 40 years of experience in the hotel industry. The guest of honour included Sreenidhi, managing director, Oscar Murphy Life Strategists, GRT IndraBanu, senior manager, Roots Multi Clean, who was the star sponsor of the event. The event was held on May 21, 2015 at The Chancery Pavilion, Bengaluru- Karnataka. The association is headed by Jayashree Nagaraj, founder president and chairman of PHA. Bhavana Alvares, will be the president of the Karnataka chapter. Rajshree Gopal, treasurer of Karnataka chapter was master of ceremony. The event was launched with a prayer by Nagamani, executive housekeeper, St Marks Hotel.
Mohankumar launched the logo of PHA amidst a large gathering and his motivating speech emphasised that housekeeping work, currently manual, can be automatised to enable housekeeping managers and leaders to drive efficiency and productivity, thus achieving the organisation goals like customer satisfaction and profitability. He said, “A housekeeper is also a business manager with clear thrust on design, processes and technology.”
The introduction of PHA was done by Jayashree Nagaraj, founder president and chairman. She explained to the participants how the association will attract professional housekeepers from the entire service industry both men and women, to pursue their career and aim to become business leaders through this chosen housekeeping stream. Emphasis on how PHA will be a model agency for setting up India’s cleanliness standards besides raising standards in safety, hygiene, comfort style, design in not only hotels but also in offices, hospitals, malls or in other building housing any human activity.
PHA advisory committee will comprise proven industry leaders who can then offer advice to the central / state governments on nationals standards, national policies etc on how PHA will impart skills training to metro town and rural young men and women to help in employability. A website and newsletter, edited by Sandhya Anil Kumar, editor, PHA bi-annual e-newsletter called ‘Voice of Housekeepers’ was launched by Sreenidhi, which was followed by the induction of the executive committee and board members by Nagaraj. The results of a study on work-related pain among housekeeping staff was presented next by professor Smritee Raghubalan from Garden City College.
JS Shekar, director, Qualitas Universal, who is also the technical associate partner of the association, spoke about the possibilities of raising the bar of housekeeping efforts through PHA and conveyed his vision that it should aim to become an accrediting body for quality standards in housekeeping in India. He also said that the
Chennai chapter of PHA would be launched soon.
The event also witnessed presentation by the sponsors, Roots Multi Clean India, Bayer Pest Management Company and also had the presence of supporters like Royal Linen, SS Leathers and ADD Laundry Concepts from Mumbai. Sreenidhi followed this with a motivating knowledge sharing session on ‘ Trustomer First’ which focused on self belief.
