Why do hoteliers still make their employees count the earned euros manually?

Greater efficiency and time savings should be the credo

Automating cash handling? "That's a no-brainer," thinks Floris Licht, general manager of DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station. "Why count manually? It's 2022. Almost 2023."

The view from the SkyLounge on the 11th floor is stunning. Guests look out over Amsterdam's bustling city centre, Central Station and the IJ River. Oosterdokseiland is the ideal place to stay for both business and pleasure. "We have 557 rooms, 14 meeting rooms, a Lobby Bar and Sky-Lounge," says General Manager Floris Licht. "We also have the Starbucks and Eastwood Beer & Grill. It's a dynamic operation, also in terms of cash handling."

"Employees sometimes asked: can't we remove cash from the hotel? It was a jumble of cash and processes," says Kimberley Klaren, Assistant Front of House Manager. "But many of our guests, especially from abroad, still pay in cash. So we started looking for a way to do cash handling more efficiently and securely."

 The DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station chose the Cikam Easy Cash MDX. This back-office system allows employees to collect and deposit their cash drawers themselves. '"For our team, it's much easier," says Klaren. "And our guests can choose how they want to pay."

SIMPLER PROCESS

Thanks to the Cikam system, many time-consuming processes have been eliminated. "On a day, we have 25 floats; from reception to Starbucks. That's 25 cash registers that used to have to be counted with two colleagues, in connection with the four-eye principle," says Licht, who also worked with a Cikam system at his previous workplace - the Novotel Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. "Now it's a matter of depositing in the system and done."

"Also, as Duty Manager, we had to count the entire vault twice a day because there were so many cash registers going in and out," Klaren adds. "We were spending at least two hours on that every day. And if something was wrong, it took even longer. We were also sometimes spending 15 minutes when changing money; taking money out of the safe, counting it, filling in the form. Now employees can change money themselves at the system. For example, if they run out of two-euro coins. They put in a fifty-euro note - and a minute later they are off again with the coins."

HOME ON TIME

Security is also an important argument for Floris Licht. "Our employees cannot access the money; it is safely in a closed system. A side benefit: we need fewer Brink's rides per week. Previously, money was lying in the vault waiting to be counted, while a truck came to bring new money needed by the Front Office. Then you have - unnecessarily - too much cash in your premises, because the money goes through your business too slowly."

Thanks to the Cikam Easy Cash MDX, cash circulates faster, with no manual counting involved. "That saves about eight to 10 hours a day," says Klaren. "The colleagues are also very happy with the system. Before, they still had to count the till after their shift. Now it's deposit - and you can go home. It's very nice that we can let employees go home on time."

"It has done a lot for team motivation and job satisfaction," says Licht. "That's something we hadn't considered before."

Does he see automated cash handling as a must within the hotel industry? "For me, it's a no-brainer. It provides a mix of security, efficiency and increased employee satisfaction. If you sit and count money every day, people are going to wonder: there are systems for this, right? It's 2022. Almost 2023."