Lisa Williams, Regional Chair of the Yorkshire and North-East UK Housekeepers Association (UKHA) and Executive Housekeeper of the Grand in York, reports.
The use of cash has fallen dramatically in recent years, as card and mobile payments have risen in popularity. Cash payments were already in decline when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which drove even more people towards online shopping and contactless payments while some businesses stopped accepting cash altogether. As a result, many people these days often don’t carry much, if any, cash or change.
This move towards a cashless society has seen the amount many hotel room attendants receive in tips plunge, particularly if their hotel doesn’t have a tipping policy. That is particularly unfortunate because housekeepers are some of the hardest working service industry professionals going.
They wipe down every surface in guest bedrooms and vacuum, remake beds and scrub the bathroom every time a new guest moves in. At many hotels, room attendants still clean and tidy rooms every day and all these tasks have to be done quickly, to a tight timetable.
The demanding nature of the job means housekeeping professionals are at higher risk of injury than many other professions due to the risk of slips and trips, repetitive strain or manual handling injuries.
So tips are not just about supplementing the income of housekeepers but also about making room attendants and housekeepers feel this hard work is appreciated.
Of course, whether to tip room attendants is totally at the discretion of the guest. But with cash now being in short supply, it is hard for guests who do want to tip to do so easily.
In years gone by, it was definitely much more common for guests in four and five star hotels to leave a little something than it is today. I believe that hotels should consider adopting strategies to facilitate cashless tipping and ensure guests can show their appreciation for good service if they want to. This will support staff morale, retention and recruitment for housekeeping staff, which will be beneficial as many hotels are struggling to recruit the staff they need.
Steps that hotels should consider include:
1. Integrating tipping into digital payment systems:
• Ensuring that all point-of-sale (POS) systems used in the hotel allow guests to add a tip .
• Encouraging the use of mobile payment apps that support tipping, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.
• Including tipping options within the hotel's mobile app if one is available.
2. Room charges for tipping:
• Allowing guests to add tips to their room bill for services such as room service, housekeeping, and concierge assistance.
• Training staff to inform guests that they can add a gratuity to their room bill at the time of service or during check-out.
3. QR codes:
• Placing QR codes in guest rooms, on dining tables, at the front desk, and other strategic locations throughout the hotel which link to a secure tipping page.
4. Digital wallets and tipping platforms:
• Partnering with digital wallet providers and tipping platforms that allow for easy transfer of tips directly to staff, with instructions on how to use these platforms throughout the hotel.
5. Employee training and guest communication:
• Training staff to guide guests on how to use the various digital tipping options available.
6. Transparency and Fair Distribution:
• Implementing a transparent system for collecting and distributing digital tips to ensure fairness among staff members.
7. Feedback and continuous improvement:
• Gathering feedback from both guests and staff regarding the tipping process to identify any issues or areas for improvement.
• Continuously refine and update the tipping procedures based on feedback to enhance the guest experience and employee satisfaction.
Introducing this kind of formal structure for tipping based on new technologies modernises the whole process, allowing customers who do want to leave a tip to do it quickly and conveniently and ensuring staff do not miss out. The days of tips being left by the bedside when customers check out or in a jar are fast receding.
www.britishcleaningcouncil.org
About the contributor
Lisa Williams
Regional Chair of the Yorkshire and North-East UK Housekeepers Association (UKHA) and Executive Housekeeper of the Grand in York.