Hello readers! So, after working in the hotel for 1.5years, i have decided to tender my resignation as a supervisor in the hotel. I have decided to pursue further studies to get a degree. This decision was made after careful consideration. I started working in this hotel as an intern. I choose to work in the housekeeping department instead of the front office because i wanted to move around and not simply standing long hours at the front desk. I enjoy my internship with the hotel, learn and gain valuable experience with guidance from other supervisors and the managers. There were a proper training program for me, in fact it's the same program that the hotel usually train their management trainee that will ended up as housekeeping assistant manager after they completed the program. I enjoy my job despite long hours and having to work overtime because there were always shortage of manpower.
However, i was getting frustrated because there were lesser and lesser room attendants as many were resigning and no new replacement so everyday i had to force my room attendants to take more room, but i need to ensure the room standards is not being compromised. Sometimes, when it gets too much for them, everyone do have their limits. Supervisor became without any authority because we are told to force on the room attendants to take more rooms or to even help them doing rooms. Thus, after that, three supervisor tender their resignation and we were not facing a shortage of room attendants, but supervisors and assistant managers because all the assistant managers were leaving after fulfilling their 2 year bond. My roster was getting quite screwed up when they assigned me to work shifts from 8am to 9pm for 4 days straight or i could be working for 2 weeks without any off when they place me off x2 which means double pay to get me to come back on my rest day.
I was exhausted. I told myself that i cannot continue to do nothing about it. Even if i am earning, but i barely had any free time! I think maybe this is the right time for me to move on. I cannot afford to allow my emotion affect my thinking. So one day, after i ended my shift, i went down to the office and speak to my manager that i wish to resigned.
In fact, before i came with this decision, a director has just transferred from another hotel, unlike the managers, she do her rounds on the floors so one day she was looking for me via the walkie-talkie. It's an open secret and room attendants know which supervisor tend to skive while running the floor and which supervisor really did their job. I belong to the latter one, respect doesn't comes from the title you hold. So i was actually busy helping my room attendant to turnover the room. When she found me, i was already holding a pile of bedsheets preparing to dispose at the service area. I thought she was just doing her normal rounds, she started to followed me around which was quite a burden to me because i had to walk at her pace when i was really busy and need to rush to check on my room attendants.
Later, she finally started the main topic of her finding me because she wanted to groom me to become one of the housekeeping assistant manager. She told me that i can list out any conditions if i have any and she will speak to our big boss, the one that is at a higher rank than her to groom me.
I was very surprised, grateful that someone see potential in me, it was a very good opportunity for me to get promoted to assistant manager if i took up her offer. I will be the youngest assistant manager because i am only 22 now. I was in a dilemma because I wasn't sure if i could take up this role and i have heard how irritating for the assistant managers when the manager doesn't do anything but only chase them to chase the supervisors for rooms when front office called. Maybe i am just not ready for it. I feel that i was simply too young.
Eventually, i decided not to take up this offer and go for further studies instead, maybe i choose to run away and not ready to face the challenge. But i have make up my mind. News spread fast, everyone was pretty shocked when they knew i have tendered because i have never speak to anyone of them. Maybe the room attendants in my team would expect me to inform them first but i choose the most heartless way to let them know through others.
Nevertheless, they decided to organise a farewell dinner before i left this place that i been working day and night with them. It was pretty hard to organise because most of my shift ends at 9pm everyday.
We went for chinese food in chinatown. They ordered a total of 16 dishes! I was told to order what i would like to eat but i don't really know what to order so i ask them to decide instead. I was pretty touched during one of the conversation, one of them wanted to order beef, but the other one was saying like , "You don't know Ling jie don't eat beef and you still want to order?!" (Translated from chinese) It was pretty funny and they like to call me with a jie at the back even though i am younger than them!
I would specially like to highlight one of my room attendants, that i had long regard him more like a friend, Houfeng. He has helped me so much during my time in the hotel when i was a trainee to being a full time supervisor. Whenever i require him to help, he never say no.
I still remember there was one incident he was mad at me and i don't even know why, but looking at his facial expressions, i know he is angry with me but i didn't know the reason. Later, i found out that he feel that i was being unfair to him when i can over the other room attendant quota but not his.
The term 'Over' means we can write off the quota by signing on their form that each room attendant was supposed to do because there were no more rooms for them for that day.
For me, it's a habit for me to get all my room attendants to clean all my rooms for the day and not leave any check out room for the evening shift. Usually, my rm attendants will walkie-talkie me to ask if there is any rooms for them. If i had no more rooms, usually i will not give them additional rooms by requesting from other supervisors. I would request them to touch up the rooms by doing some deep cleaning on certain part of the rooms. Building on trust that they will do. So for Houfeng's case, another room attendant contact me first and it happen i have no more rooms. So i over the rm attendant room quota. When Houfeng called and ask me, it just happened when i check in the system, there was a check out room. So naturally, i assigned it to him. But i didn't know he was angry because he knew the other rm attendant before him has no rooms. It looks like a normal process but he get the idea i was being bias. Which i was not, so after he has calm himself, i explained to him that he could have questioned me that i can over the other person room but why not his. Perhaps i could recall oh ya, the other room attendant has no room, both of them could be assigned to clean the check out room together. I have too many room attendants to manage sometimes i won't be able to keep track who i have spoke to while running the floor.
But i was glad that i didn't choose to run away but trying to resolve the issue with him, there were no bad feeling towards each other but i told him to tell me next time so that i know because i don't like to play mind guessing game.
It has been a wonderful experience working with you guys, even though i get pretty pissed sometimes when the day hasn't been good. I sincerely wish them all the best and all the best for me too!
Shall end this post for now.
Till then!
