FAIRFIELD, NJ? Motivation is important in any job, especially in an area like housekeeping where turnover is a problem and the tight labor market makes it difficult to fill vacancies. Prime Hospitality Corp. has developed what it feels is an effective way to motivate the housekeeping staff at the 200 properties it owns and manages. It holds a Housekeeping Olympics with competitors vying for prizes and a trip to Prime?s headquarters here where they are wined, dined and treated to shopping sprees and sightseeing tours. Now in its third year, the Housekeeping Olympics begins in September with two months of competition held at the property level. Housekeepers participate in three categories? bedmaking, bathroom cleaning and sheet folding? and are judged on speed and adherence to Prime-approved cleaning procedures. Each property has a winner in each category; those winners go on to regional competitions which also take place over a two-month period and encompass 10 participating regions. The names of the 30 finalists are given to Roseanne Brennan, vp/training and development for Prime, who arranges to have them flown into nearby Newark International Airport for the Housekeeping Olympics. The event is held over a weekend and ?the finalists have a lot of fun,? Brennan said. This year?s Olympics was held the first weekend in March. Saturday?s itinerary included practicing procedures for the finals plus an evening reception at Prime?s headquarters. On Sunday, the finalists were treated to a sightseeing tour of New York City, then went back to New Jersey for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Monday morning the competition was held at four Prime properties near the company?s headquarters. There were eight judges with two at each of the properties. Brennan noted that as many of the housekeepers are Hispanic, a trilingual trainer was available to lend any necessary assistance. When all the finalists were finished, the judges? scores were given to Brennan for tabulation. After a luncheon, the finalists were taken to a nearby JC Penney store and given a $100 gift certificate for shopping. An awards banquet was held Monday evening at Prime?s headquarters with top management present. In addition to dinner and dancing, the winners of the Olympics were announced. A total of nine prizes were awarded with first, second and third places in each of the three categories. First prize was a $1,000 JC Penney gift certificate; second prize, a $300 gift certificate; and third prize, a $200 gift certificate. One-Minute Bedmaking This year?s top winners were all from Prime properties in New Jersey. With a time of one minute and 19 seconds, the first place winner in the bedmaking category was Fabiola Beltran from the Ramada Inn in Clifton. Aquilina Gusman from the Holiday Inn in Princeton won first place in bathroom cleaning with a time of two minutes and three seconds. The top prize in sheet folding went to Oscar Torres representing the Sheraton Crossroads in Mahwah. Torres folded 103 sheets in one-half hour. In addition to the Housekeeping Olympics, Prime feels celebrating National Housekeepers Week in September helps to motivate the staff. To commemorate the event, housekeepers are given a small gift and a certificate of appreciation signed by Prime CEO A. F. Petrocelli. Throughout the year, general managers are encouraged to have lunch with various staff members ?to say thank you for a job well done because that is so effective,? Brennan said. ?Employees need to know they are respected, management cares about them, and that they have to do a good job.?
