If we can have holidays to celebrate cats, cheese pizza, and relaxation, we can most certainly have a week to fete the “heroes of housekeeping” – the cleaning professionals who make our shared spaces, hotel rooms, spas, hospitals, and homes habitable. While housekeeping professionals deserve love and appreciation year-round, there is a special holiday for housekeeping. And this year, International Housekeeping Week takes place from September 9–15, 2019.
How can you appreciate cleaning staff during Housekeeping Appreciation Week? Here are 10 tips and ideas to celebrate International Housekeeping Appreciation Week.
Housekeeping Appreciation Week Ideas
Feast
Offer catered breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner. There are a variety of treats that work. A full continental breakfast? Steak dinner? Cupcake happy hour? Make-your-own-crepes? You decide what your staff would appreciate most, and let them be waited on for a change.
Gameday
A day of fun and games allows your housekeeping pros to show off their skills. Activity ideas include a supply cart obstacle course, a trivia contest, or an old-fashioned pillow fight. For fun, managers should participate too! Make sure to have some great prizes for the winners.
Spa day
Housekeeping involves lots of heavy lifting, and cleaners often suffer from back pain or neck pain as a result. Pamper and revive your staff for Housekeeping Appreciation Week with an on-site workplace massage. This can be 10-20 minute chair massages to quickly relieve tension, or full 60-minute table massages to truly feel rejuvenated.
Personalized swag
Create an official Housekeeping Appreciation Week 2019 T-shirt, sweatshirt, mug, or tote bag for your staff, just for them. Not only will they appreciate the gift, it will also give housekeeping professionals a deserved sense of pride.
Gift cards
Gift cards are always welcome. Anything from local coffee shops, to gas stations, to massage services, to restaurants, to movie theaters, to big box stores like Target will go over well.
Flowers
Say thank you with flowers! Order a bouquet for each staff member. Choose a local florist or an on-demand delivery flower service like Bouqs or UrbanStems.
Acknowledgment
A genuine, personal thank-you note will show your housekeepers how much you appreciate and rely on them. If an individual housekeeping professional has gone above and beyond the call of duty, acknowledge them in company emails or your hotel’s blog. The Mandarin Oriental, New York makes sure to call out these selfless acts of kindness, referring to them as “MoWOW moments.”
A few celebration tips to keep in mind
- Schedule any celebratory events at different times, since housekeepers may work shifts at varying times. Hold events during working hours not after work — for maximum appreciation.
- Don’t limit housekeeping appreciation to just one week! Consider scheduling a monthly massage day, movie night, or catered breakfast.
- Even if you have only one or two housekeepers, take the time to show them you care. They are the backbone of the hospitality industry.
