You did everything right from the beginning of the season. You did your budgeting, you filled every position with the right people, you purchased your linen and cleaning equipment, and your season started strongly with high room occupancy.
June and July go extremely well. Everybody is in position, the operation runs smoothly, and then — around the 10th of August — the fatigue sets in and you get your first deserters.
Two room attendants decide to resign. One got tired, the other received a better job offer elsewhere. It happens. You cannot always predict it and you cannot always prevent it.
Then you lose two supervisors as well. One had an unexpected surgery — nothing you could have foreseen. The other resigned for personal reasons. Some people do not fit with the team over time, or simply have a change of heart mid-season. It is not always about money or conditions. Sometimes people just move on.
So there you are — peak August, full occupancy, and four key positions suddenly empty.
I have been there, and the pressure once you do not have the hands to run your housekeeping operation is enormous — for you and for your remaining personnel. If you do not deal with it immediately, it compounds fast.
First, go straight to your HR department. Ask them to push out any candidates they have on file, even if the pool is thin at this time of year when everyone is already placed. Something is better than nothing.
Then speak openly with your team about the situation. Do not hide it — they already feel it. Put everyone on one day off, no exceptions, until you have some stability in your staffing and your occupancy numbers allow it. They will understand. A good team always does when the manager is straight with them.
Ask your personnel to reach out to people they know. Room attendants often know other room attendants. A personal recommendation from someone already on your team is worth ten CVs from an agency. Of course, you will not hire anyone without an interview — but a warm referral is always a faster and more reliable starting point.
Go back through every CV you reviewed during the year. Call them. Some may have taken a temporary position elsewhere and would welcome a two-month contract to close out the season. Even one or two extra pairs of hands is a real relief for your department.
For the supervisor gap, do not overlook smart candidates who may not have a formal hospitality background. A sharp person who has worked in a customer-facing role, handles people well, and speaks English can be trained quickly to inspect and check rooms. With the right guidance from you and your senior staff, they can take on a floor responsibility within days — not weeks. University students looking for summer work are worth considering here. They are often disciplined, fast learners, and motivated. What you need is not years of experience — you need someone with a good eye, a professional attitude, and the ability to communicate clearly with both the team and the guests.
Always apply management by example. This is not the moment to manage from behind a desk.
During periods when I was short on supervisors, I would personally cover floor inspection during the morning hours — alongside my regular housekeeping management duties — and then take over the afternoon shift through to 21:00. In the most critical situations, I would bring all available floor supervisors onto the morning shift to maximise room production, clean and inspect rooms at full speed during the peak hours, and then cover the afternoon supervisor shift on my own.
It is a long day. But your team sees it, and it changes everything. They will not complain about the pressure when they see their manager on the floor next to them. It builds trust, it keeps standards up, and it sends a clear message — we are in this together and we will get through it.
A housekeeping manager who leads from the front during a staffing crisis earns more loyalty in two weeks than a year of normal operations can build. That said, you must not burn yourself out. Fill the open positions as fast as possible, train your new room attendants and floor supervisors on their duties, and get the operation back to full strength quickly. The goal is to bridge the gap — not to carry it indefinitely.
Every season will have a setback. Staff shortages in August are not a sign that you planned poorly — they are a reality of the hospitality industry that every experienced housekeeping manager has faced at least once. What separates a good manager from a great one is having a contingency plan ready before the crisis hits.
Keep every CV from every candidate you interviewed during the year in a dedicated file — organised, accessible, and easy to search when you need it. More importantly, maintain a separate short list of people you found genuinely suitable for a position but did not hire at the time — perhaps the timing was wrong, the position was already filled, or they were slightly overqualified for what you needed then. These are your first calls when a staffing crisis hits. A person you already interviewed and liked is a far safer bet than a stranger with an unknown track record.
Pro tip: keep their phone numbers current. A quick message or call in a crisis is worth more than a week of advertising.
Be prepared for setbacks. They will come. But with the right files, the right contacts, and the right mindset, you will move through them faster than you think.
If you need ready-made tools to reorganise your shifts, task allocation, onboard new staff fast, and keep room cleaning standards up while short-handed, these are built for exactly that:
- 02. Personnel Shift Roster Programme — Excel Shift Planning Tool for Housekeeping Managers
- 07. Allocating Tasks to Your Personnel
- 12. Housekeeping Department Training System — Complete Toolkit
- 08. Room Cleaning Procedures – Complete Toolkit for Housekeeping Managers
Free to browse — Explore the training library →
0 comments