Totaling 9 hotels to date since veteran Irene Yeo’s foray into the housekeeping industry in year 1970, the stable of high quality hotels includes: Hilton (1970), Hotel Negara (1974), Orchard Hotel (1980), Holiday Inn Parkview (1984), Mandarin Hotel (1986), Orchard Hotel (2000), Europa Country Club (2000), Fullerton Hotel (2001), Goodwood Park Hotel (2002).
Irene brings with her a stellar track record incubating successful processes and marketing concepts, which have enlivened the hotels she worked in. Her projects has seen her from setting up the Guest Laundry and Dry Cleaning Plant in Orchard Hotel, setting up the Housekeeping operations and standards in Holiday Inn Parkview, to increasing room inventory for sales for Fullerton Hotel with the modification of rooms. And the list goes on. Notably, she became the first hotel housekeeper to implement outsourcing of room maids to ease manpower crunch after an extensive retrenchment exercise during an economic downturn in Singapore.
She is particularly adept at embracing change. She continuously encourages new ideas from her staff and also advocates continuous “everyday” training. The emphasis is on good training, direct communication, identifying training and development needs for different categories of staff and fostering a sense of belonging as well as a pleasant working environment. She believes that a good hotelier must be out and about among staff and guests, not sit behind a desk.
After nearly four decades in hospitality, and due to the ‘calling’ of breast cancer, Irene left the hospitality industry to manage a successful Holistic Centre with an organic retail arm for cancer support groups by the Kampung Senang Charity and Education Foundation. To gain a better understanding of healthcare housekeeping, Irene joined Changi Hospital Facility Management where safety issues, infection control and managing hazardous materials added on to her housekeeping bible.
Coming through as a breast cancer survivor and a single parent, Irene always stands out as an individual who refuses to be bogged down by obstacles. Though at a retirement age, she continues to seize working opportunities and supports community service and charity organisations.
IRENE YEO
Skills Trainer
HAPA Academy
