Loews Hotels Utilizes Scorecard to Measure Building Performance

Loews Hotels & Co’s VP of Engineering, Joe Thomas, developed a Score Card tool to evaluate physical and operational performance across their building portfolio. This tool also provides accountability for the engineering staff, who are tasked with meeting the company’s corporate sustainability goals. The Score Card measures each property’s performance in six different categories – ranging from equipment functioning to guest satisfaction – and provides a monthly and annual rating based on the results. Pulling from facility inspections, guest feedback, and the maintenance invoice system called “Hot SOS”, the Score Card results are used by the Engineering Department to prioritize projects and direct capital expenditure on renovations and upgrades.

As an element of outreach and education, the VP of Engineering issues a monthly report to property, regional and corporate teams summarizing the Score Card findings. This transparent communication engages staff and encourages a targeted approach to improve property performance.

The Score Card evaluates each property’s performance towards predetermined goals for regular preventive maintenance, equipment performance, and guest satisfaction to calculate a score. That score is then categorized by Outstanding, Excellent, or Needs Improvement. Each property’s Director of Engineering is eligible to receive an annual incentive based on outcomes of the Score Card, an exciting and rewarding way to keep engagement.

Score Card Framework:

Guest Satisfaction – guestroom equipment function and lighting

• Online surveys are offered to guests after their stay and the tracked responses are included in this portion of the Score Card. This summary enables the Engineering Department to identify guestroom inefficiencies and to allocate capital to corresponding renovations. For example, guest feedback that indicates low lighting levels or unreliable internet services may warrant investment in a complete guestroom lighting retrofit or technology upgrade, which leads to fewer service calls and improved guest satisfaction.

Mighty Maintain – preventive maintenance program

• Each Director of Engineering is expected to meet the corporate-level annual preventative maintenance goals for guestrooms, which are tied to the Score Card. The assigned preventive maintenance mechanic receives a list of inspection points per guestroom (approximately 96 points). Once the room inspection is complete, any deficiencies that are unable to be addressed during the room inspection are converted into work orders. Each property is expected to conduct guestroom assessments three times per year. A rating based on the number of guestrooms and number of completed guestroom assessments is generated, which is then incorporated in the Score Card.

Equipment Preventative Maintenance – library of equipment and maintenance schedules

• The Engineering Department developed a preventative maintenance library that tracks every piece of equipment at each property and the required frequency of preventative maintenance. Frequency depends on the equipment type, seasons, and property location. For example, properties located in cities may require more frequent filter changes. Equipment performance is also evaluated based on manufacturer standards for operation.
• The maintenance staff tracks completed preventative maintenance tasks, which feed a report that influences the Score Card.

Mini Shop – Heart of House – annual back-of-house quality assurance inspection

• Each Director of Engineering conducts a semi-monthly quality assurance inspection of the hotel’s back-of-house infrastructure. The properties are scored on a Met or Not Met basis which is then incorporated in the Score Card.

Hot SOS – maintenance ticket management system

• The Hot SOS system is Loews’ internal maintenance ticket management system that tracks number of maintenance calls completed at a property. Each property is required to issue an Occurrences Report monthly, which is tracked in the Score Card.

Loews Hotels & Co has also expanded to use two other internal score cards to track efficiency of in-house laundry services and utility costs per guestroom.