Sebati Mahanta, Executive House Keeper Sebati Mahanta – The Park, Goa

The hotel sector around the world is a high revenue creator and provides relaxing and luxurious services. It doesn’t matter if a hotel is in the five-star category or a budget hotel, nothing sends a stronger message than cleanliness in the hospitality operation and that’s always maintained by the housekeeping department. Out of all the divisions which help run a hotel, housekeeping has always stayed out of the sight and carries out its never-ending duties 24x7x365 to provide clean, hygienic, fresh atmosphere and relief to every individual stepping into the hotel.

Like any other departments, housekeeping gives an individual a chance to make a successful career and accomplish diverse heights in the management up to the level of general manager. One such accomplished story that sets a profound example for others in this field is of EHK Sebati Mahanta. She at the age of 42 years boasts of her 12 years of career in the hospitality industry. In 2004 her remarkable journey in the hotel management started when she did 6 months IT training in Goa and joined as a Supervisor in Ahmedabad. She later worked in different cities like Jaipur and Indore and then came to Goa. Though due to certain circumstances in her personal life, Sebati had chosen a job in Housekeeping department in hotel industry, but she has done full justice to her work.

She believes that the most challenging task in this job as a housekeeping manager is to coordinate with the housekeeping staff. And from the services point of view, covering the entire length and breadth of the premises to maintain the hygiene and cleanliness is another parameter of the challenges faced by them. The most important of all tasks is to check whether all guest amenities are available in each and every room as the guest amenities create the most influential impact to get the image of the hotel right. To maintain the standard of the room and to keep the guests satisfied the house keeping staff should have excellent hands on experience.

Ms. Sebati has set her next higher goal to become a Corporate House keeper. To achieve this goal Sebati takes more knowledge about the key roles and responsibilities of a corporate house keeper from her seniors and colleagues. She also relies on the books on hospitality management, social media and Google to be updated about the current trends. As per her opinion the guests like it the most when the cleanliness and hygiene of the hotel or resort they stay in is maintained at the best level.
As per her opinion the thing that inspires the staff to perform well is that the management should understand the turmoil of the house keeping job. The action the management can take to increase employee performance is through recognition of their performance and apprehension. Some small initiatives can be taken to make them feel recognised by doing some routine activities for them.

The problem faced in the House keeping department is majorly the staff attrition. Secondly the availability of guest amenities and its procurement is a challenging task. Another issue that affects the attrition rate of the house keeping staff is the salary and wages paid to them. But like any other field, the salary package of an individual also depends on factors such as qualification, knowledge and reputation.

For the young millennial who aspire to make a career in the house keeping department in the hotel industry Ms. Sebati advises that discipline and perseverance are vital for success. Confidence in one’s abilities, enthusiasm about the work and skills contribute to success. One should be humble while addressing to the complaints of the guests and should never lose their cool. They should apologise for any mistake done by them. She advises to the juniors that the hotel industry is the best to work in and they should work hard to achieve their respective goals.