Employee Management in Hospitality

Housekeeping Theft: The Westin Arlington Gateway

Overview of Westin Arlington Gateway

The company under research is called Westin Arlington Gateway. Westin Arlington Gateway is an international hotel found in Virginia. Westin Arlington Gateway is one of the global hotels that have captured the state-of-the-art formation. Westin Arlington Gateway is found in Virginia, one of the mega cities in the world with massive tourism growth and vibrant human activity. The hotel offers a variety of products and services that are designed to meet the customer preferences and tastes. At Westin Arlington Gateway, everything is done for the sake of the customer. The customer, who is the most important person in the hotel, is assisted to feel at best at all times. For instance, this year, Westin Arlington Gateway has introduced the Westin Well-Being Movement (Colbert, 2012). This will be a global initiative used to create awareness for the customers as they seek to access the best of the products and services from the hotel. Various services and facilities are important for the comfort of the customer at the facility. The initiative intends to comprise of innovative partnerships together with supplementary programs that will be offered across Westin's six pillars of well-being. The six pillars that are categorical of Westin Arlington Gateway include sleeping well, eating well, moving well, feeling well, working well, and playing well. One of the main features that are instrumental in the success and sustainability of Westin Arlington Gateway is the security of the hotel and the clients, in and out.

Problem

One main problem that is experienced at the Westin Arlington Gateway is security. Insecurity is one of the main threats that have always affected the nature of production and daily activities within the hotel. Theft has always been experienced in the housekeeping department and affects the hotel in various ways. In fact, several items get lost in the housekeeping department. Clients lose their property in some instance, among other theft cases that have been reported. According to the management of Westin Arlington Gateway, security has always been beefed up since this is considered as one of the ways through which the six pillars can be comprehensively secured and offered to the people. With all these in place, there is a need to have a central focus on the issue of housekeeping theft as it is occurring in-house at the hotel premises (Colbert, 2012).

Research objectives

Preventing it from happening

Insecurity is one aspect that is effective when it comes to dealing with people and property (Cost 2102 International Training School, & Esposito, 2010). Insecurity threatens the existence and sustainability of any business and not as experienced at Westin Arlington Gateway alone. Before any insecurity, as theft occurs, it is important to put measures in place that will ensure there is a maximum state of security offered. For instance, Westin Arlington Gateway needs to invest in the current technology, while ensuring that equitable strategies are formulated and implemented on insecurity even outside the hotel. The hotel has to educate its workers on how best they can tackle issues of housekeeping theft. Awareness has to be scaled high among the workers and the security personnel that are working at the hotel.

Secondly, there has to be apparatus to monitor the states of movements and activity within the hotel at all times. For instance, the hotel should put in place enough CCTV cameras, surveillance cameras and computers, and a standby monitoring personnel that will ensure that nothing happens without being noted by the security personnel. Thirdly, the hotel has to invest in security and proper maintenance of the security facilities. There has to be awareness of the dangers of getting involved in housekeeping theft. The lost property has to be recovered and taken to the owners. Such measures will ensure that the safety of the house hosting the hotel is always working and at the highest level possible. Rules and regulations need to be created for the sake of issuing a warning to the workers and clients who come visiting the hotel.

How to deal with it when it happens

When theft happens, there are certain steps that the hotel management and the security personnel have to observe. For instance, arrests have to be made followed by prosecution and jail. No damage should be done, may be through mob justice or something like that. The culprits have to be taken before a justice system, as this will serve as a warning to any future housekeeping theft planners. Thorough research should be done including the possible avenues through which theft occurs, the results of the theft cases, impacts, possible remedy measures, and the overall perception and options of the members. Such research should serve to guide the hotel management team to seal all loopholes through which housekeeping theft can occur in the future. There should be initiatives that are provided to the caretakers and all those that are concerned with the security of property within and without the hotel. Such initiatives will act as motivational measures that bring success and durability of service delivery at the hotel. Further, the particular incentives and initiatives need to be replicated in all the sections of the hotel. Security needs to be an activity that is overseen by every concerned person. The members working on the hotel need to be informed of the dangers of engaging in theft. Further, the remedy measures that are provided should fall within the prepared structures of every individual within the hotel.

Research approach