Intercontinental Wellington
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Now 23, he has held the position at the hotel for about four months and has already helped bring a considerable lift to the housekeeping standards.
Mr Fleming was born in New Plymouth and interest in hotels came to him early. "I'd always wanted to work in business but the idea of sitting at a desk all day never really appealed to me. Hotels have always fascinated me and since there was a hotel school in my home town, it made the decision a lot easier."
He enrolled at the Pacific International Hotel Management School (PIHMS) in 2007. Part of the PIHMS degree involved a six month industry placement at the Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas in the food and beverage department and another six month placement in Queenstown in the rooms division of the Millennium Hotel. He graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Hospitality and Tourism Management in 2009 and took up a position as a management trainee with IHG in 2010.
Daniel Fleming"I spent four months in each operational area: food and beverage, front office and housekeeping. I was then a duty manager for seven months before being promoted to my current role as guest experience manager – facilities, overseeing the housekeeping department and preventative maintenance," he said.
Change and challenges
His role puts him in charge of a housekeeping staff of 50. As might be expected, the change management has brought challenges. For Mr Fleming, the major one was gaining the support of housekeeping staff while their old way of working was being altered.
"Some of our colleagues have been here for close to 20 years and have set ways of working. In order to make the change easier and more successful, I was very open with them about why change was occurring and the benefits for them and the department. Getting by-in from the staff was key and I think we've made some good progress so far.
"Also, obtaining a consistently clean product is always a challenge. We could check every room in the hotel to ensure they are perfect on a daily basis, but that is not feasible. Instead, we want to motivate our colleagues and help them to enjoy their jobs. If people are happy in what they do, it shows in the final result."
As often happens in hotels, the Intercontinental's housekeeping team is made up of a wide range of nationalities, but Mr Fleming says there is no reason why change should not be enjoyable. "We have a large team from a wide range of backgrounds, but that can make the role even more fun. We're able to learn from each other and everybody enjoys a good laugh. Lots of them love to voice their opinions, which we encourage as long as it's constructive.
"I was lucky enough to join the hotel at a time when we had average guest satisfaction scores and less than perfect employee engagement, and see this rise from good to great. We had a new general manager and several new department heads who drove motivation, revenue generation and organisational capability.
"With housekeeping, we're on a journey to have the cleanest and best maintained product on the market. We're in the process of changing a number of things. We're putting the right people in the right places, creating the right environment for our staff, and we've refocused I-Clean (a TQM project targeting room cleanliness where the focus is on room audits, process, training and development, as well as reward and recognition).
"We're pushing for our staff to have the resources they need to do their jobs. For instance, in the past the hotel has tended to be short of linen. We've ordered new bathrobes for guests and we're hoping to have some form of par level, which is something the team has not experienced for quite a few years.
"Most of all, we've questioned the norm and thought smarter about daily tasks and procedures. We're always thinking about how we can make things easier for ourselves while producing a better result."
Exciting potential
So, have the changes brought the improvement that was hoped for? "Definitely," says Daniel Fleming. "It's early days though. We're still making changes and progress every day.
"I see great potential to grow the department and now we have new owners, Columna Capital Holdings, there is the possibility of a refurbishment this year. It's a very exciting time to be at the Intercontinental."
Has he found his role satisfying? "Extremely so. It's a very challenging role, but extremely rewarding. Housekeeping is great as you're able to make instant change, test ideas and obtain fast results. I love the diverse group of people I work with and the interesting guests we meet."
He believes his future will be just as enjoyable. "My next role with IHG will hopefully either be a front office manager in a larger hotel, or a rooms division manager in a smaller hotel. This will most definitely be overseas. The company is fantastic at growing, developing and moving its colleagues to other countries and I look forward to continuing my journey with them."
