Zhe Zhuang's ePortfolio

This week I am a runner for two days. It is my first time to be a runner, I ask my coworkers what I should do besides delivering stuff to guests. They tell me that I need clean the single guest elevator and fill out all amenities. Later on the base call me to check a room’s standard(the number of the room is 2575). I am told to empty trash and change the dirty towels after I tell the base there is garbage in the trash can and dirty towels on the floor. I think I am done because that room looks so clean.

At the end of my break time, manager Peggy wants to see me. She ask me whether I check room 2575 or not. I speak with her about what I did in that room before and tell her the beds are completely clean. She keeps asking me if I check the sheets, I answer no honestly. She says if I am you, I will go ahead to check the sheets carefully to make sure it is clean. She is unhappy at that time, and she sends me and the other housekeeper to change the sheets right away. I am so confused about what I am doing as a runner. I know it is my mistake to forget to check the sheets, but in my mind the only thing I should do is tell the base the room is clean or dirty, I don’t think to clean a room is the runner’s job, that’s why I can’t understand Peggy’s angry. However, my role is housekeeping, it is my duty to clean everything whatever I am a runner or housekeeper, it is no big difference. I am learning everyday.

This week I make a big mistake in my work. I have a late service room to clean one night, I make the beds, clean the bathroom, change the towels and empty the trash can. These are all I do and know for the late service. Late on the guest complains my service, she says to one of our runners she doesn’t have shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, lotion and coffee, sugar, tea; we don’t change clean glasses for her and clean the garbage on her table. She says she has been in Disney many times and it is not the Disney way doing like that. When I hear this, I feel so sorry and guilty. One of the reasons I don’t pay attention to that part is because during my training no one tells me I should change everything dirty in the room and put new amenities even though there are some in the room already. I think we can’t touch anything on the table. After the base is informed the guest complain, Rosa tells me that I should learn from mistakes what I make, and I do learn a very serious lesson on that day. What’s more, the next day when I go to work, I get three late service rooms to clean, I think this is a practice for me and make me remember my mistake forever.

This Friday, we have a meeting for both custodial and housekeeping CPs. During the meeting, managers emphasize the Disney four keys and how each of them applies for our daily work. One of our managers Peggy, she suggests us that we should go to parks as often as possible to know and experience Disney’s fun places and interesting events happen around us, these are important information we should know and give to our guests. It is not only a resort for guests to stay, but also a whole Disney World for them to explore.

This week I start my class, Human Resource Management and Experiential Learning. They are very interesting classes, my two instructors Karen and Debi are so cute and we have a lot of fun in classes. We play a game “Who I am” in the Experiential Learning class. Our foreheads are stick Disney characters’ names by Debi, we should ask classmates Yes or No questions to find who we are and look for our partner late on. Unfortunately, I ask bunch of questions and my classmates even give my some hints, I still have no idea who I am. It is a wonderful game, we learn Disney characters quickly and get to know new people at the same time.

I make my first turn-down service tip this week. Usually, when we are doing turn-down service, we just make beds for guests, put chocolate on beds, turn on the reading light and reset the curtains. If the room is dirty, we also need clean the trash can and change the dirty towels. It is not a sort of complicated job compareing with AM housekeeping. Mostly guests are not in the rooms, some of them who are stay will refuse this service; just few guests stay in the rooms and want the service simultaneously, that is how I get tip from my turn-down service. Here I take a picture in a room when I am doing the turn-down service.

Since I don’t need to do turndown service on the 5th floor, I should stand by the call to make me clean rooms. I can understand I do the late service, clean bathroom or patio, and catch up some rooms that guests change to another one. However, I don’t like to clean a room which is already clean enough! I need change clean sheets again, dust everything again, vacuum again, I don’t find any of them are dirty! It is double work and I think it makes no sense for me, but the only thing I can do is follow the instruction.

When I have 18:00-2:30 shift, I should be a runner after midnight. The base person leave early and give me all keys. It is my first to be a runner by my own and I don’t familiar with the inventory in each storeroom. The base person is worried about me and tries to explain every detail in one time. Fortunately everything goes smooth until the end, but there is unhappy thing happen at last minute. Because we are new cps, we are not in the key system so that we can’t open the key door to put back keys by ourselves. We are looking for a custodial lady to help us but we can not find her anywhere. After we ask front desk, we just put all keys by computer in the office and hope no one will take them.

This week is my first individual working week. Through the whole week, my schedule starts on 2:30pm, and I should clean rooms in Villas side between 2:30-4:00pm. Most rooms in Villas have kitchen, it takes me at least one hour to clean everything. Although folding towels in different shapes is a easy part for housekeepers, I still spend time to learn and try to make bathroom and kitchen more tidier and beautiful. When I begin to clean a room by my own, I realize that it is easy to make a room very clean, but it is hard to clean a room in a limited time! At that point, the time management is very important and I should use it effectively.

While I was doing the turn down service, a guest came to me and asked me if I have an ice bag. Unfortunately, I carried towels, trash bags and recycle bags except ice bags. It might be not a big problem in this situation, but I still felt sorry to her and thought that I can’t say no to my guests. From this lesson, I learn that I never know what will happen next, and I should prepare everything when I make a magic during my service.

This week is my training week, I work with different trainers everyday as night shift housekeeping. During the night time, we should do turn down service, fill out cars, deliver stuff and our service, etc. It is much easier than AM housekeeping I think, but I don’t like work until 2:30am, it is too late for me to go to bed.

Everybody believe that Disney create magic for guests, Disney is a magic place, the magic can happen everywhere. When I work with my trainer one night, we go to a room to fix DVD player for our guests. Once I step in, the lady stare at nametag for a long time and ask me if I am Chinese. After I say yes, they are so excited and her daughter starts to talk with me in Chinese. I am so surprised in her fluent Chinese because it is not easy to learn and to speak. For me, they create magic as well.

When I think about the efficiency in Disney, I believe we should provide our service beyond guests’ expectation. So while we deliver an air-mattress for guests, we try several of them but they are not working very well. We give a queen size one to guests, but we find another one is working more better, so my trainer decides to change again. The service we try to offer is not the good one, but the best one for our guests.