Keep Your Office Spic and Span

If you own an office, you must be proud of it. Oh, so you are not? You ventured into this business thinking that it will take off well, and yes, it did for a while, but then it suddenly experienced a slump? And you kept on wondering what the reason was. You hired the best of staff, bought top quality equipment and technology, and framed ethical guidelines and good work practices to be followed by all. In spite of all the facilities and benefits here, your employees still feel grumpy, irritable, listless, and lack focus.  They just don’t feel at ease working in your office.

If you identify with the above situation, assess the level of cleanliness in your office. Unclean, unkempt offices are a big turn off despite the best material amenities present.

Importance of Office Cleaning 

1. Trash Disposal – Unclean offices jeopardize the health of employees. Trash that is not discarded into the garbage bin and lies scattered around the office, whether in the pantry, on the desk, washroom, or cabins, accumulates a lot of dust and even critters. Many sensitive individuals react strongly to dust; they start sneezing, panting, and producing other allergic reactions.
2. Pantry Hygiene – Hygiene must be strongly maintained in the pantry or canteen. Coffee cups made of paper should be preferred as they can be discarded. Reuse of cups, spoons, and other utensils leads to transmission of disease-causing germs causing illnesses in many employees. Surfaces of coffee machines must be cleaned with an effective sanitizer in order to check microbial growth due to milk spillage.
3. Filtered Water Usage – Water should be thoroughly filtered and purified before storing into water dispensing coolers. Employees who contract infectious diseases due to water and food contamination avail of long sick leaves thus leading to reduced work hours. This could have a huge impact on the business.
4. Toilet Hygiene – Toilets must be cleaned on a daily basis using an alcohol-based sanitizer. Good quality toilet cleaners must be used.  Hiring professional office cleaning services regularly like once a month is a good option for the health of office staff rather than relying on just one housekeeping person. The quality of cleanliness that professional housekeeping staff renders is matchless.
5. Sick Employee Policy – Employees who are seriously ill with a communicable disease must not come to office until they are completely free from the disease. Such individuals can pass off their infection to healthy employees. It is advisable to let them work from home if that is feasible for their role and acceptable to their seniors.
6. Eating Guidelines – Strict guidelines on eating breakfast and lunch must be imposed. Employees must not be allowed to eat or drink in the work area in order to avoid spillage or dropping of fluids and food particles on computers, laptops, carpets, or desks. Employees failing to abide by these laws should be strictly penalized.
7. Indoor Plants – Keep some indoor plants in your office in order to increase oxygen levels which usually dip where too many people are exhaling carbon dioxide. Oxygen-rich air is clean, pure, and energizing.
8. Technology Damage – In unclean offices, where there is water spillage on technological equipment, there are greater chances of electronic malfunction and accidents. Electric shocks to employees, PCs not working, and other glitches slow down the pace of working in an office. The result is reduced productivity.
9. Optimum Level of Work – In order to bring the best out of every employee, it is very important to pay attention to their health. Unhealthy employees are not motivated enough to work. They lack the enthusiasm and energy to work and pay attention to tiny details. In roles that demand a high level of attention to details, an unhealthy atmosphere may breed lack of concentration in the employees leading to high error rate.
10. Noise Cleanliness – This refers to filtering or blocking out loud or irritating noises in the background so that they don’t affect the employees’ work. Compartmentalization of departments is an effective way to minimize noise pollution which deteriorates work quality. Healthy mingling among co-workers is conducive to work quality and productivity. Employees, who gel well or share interesting titbits with each other, increase knowledge and add cheer to the work atmosphere. After all, a healthy employee is a happy employee. And a happy employee is a productive employee.
11. Security – Office cleanliness is important and ensures a healthy working environment when the office is working. However, you also need something to watch over your office when it is kept closed for a period of time owing to certain reasons like transfer of most employees to another branch of the company or temporary shifting of workplace due to renovation. In such cases, you need a trustworthy party to keep a watch on the office that is shut down or inactive for some days or months. Moreover, you need the office in the best condition when you are back. When you hire house watching services, this problem is taken care of. They take care of your office like no other. And when you are back, there is no lag period. You can start your work from day 1 with total productivity.