The importance of a thorough office deep clean

When you’re running a business, office cleanliness might not seem like a major priority. However, neglecting this aspect of workspace management could harm your company and your employees. Keep reading to find out why it makes sense to give your working environment a thorough deep clean. Reducing the sickness risk Offices can be surprisingly unhygienic places. Bacteria and viruses can thrive on keyboards, phones, desks and other surfaces, potentially putting the health of workers at risk. From colds and flu to vomiting bugs, people can suffer an array of illnesses thanks to the germs they come into contact with when simply going about their daily tasks at work. Not only is this bad news for employees, it’s bad for businesses as well. According to research commissioned by hygiene specialist Initial Washroom Hygiene and carried out by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR), poor office hygiene may reduce UK GDP by around 0.8% (or over £13 billion) a year due to staff members taking time off sick or their performance at work being compromised. Doing a deep clean of workstations, kitchen areas, toilets, reception spaces and other parts of your office could significantly improve hygiene levels and reduce sickness rates among your personnel. Improving employee morale A dirty office doesn’t send a good message to workers. If your staff members have to put up with an unclean working environment, their morale can suffer. For one thing, a poorly maintained workspace comes across as unprofessional, and this could filter down and negatively influence the attitude of your employees. In addition, if you don’t take care of office cleanliness, it may seem as though you don’t value your personnel and aren’t prepared to provide them with pleasant surroundings. It’s worth noting that the CEBR study revealed 39% of office workers thought that improved office hygiene would raise their level of job satisfaction. Meanwhile, research commissioned by PHS Group found that nearly half (48 per cent) of people polled were unhappy with the hygiene standard of their workplace. Raising productivity A clean and tidy office can play an important role in raising productivity too. Messy offices can slow people down and make them less efficient in their tasks. Something as simple as having to spend time finding a clean bathroom if the closest one isn’t up to scratch, or having to clean dirty dishes from lunchtime, can slow employees down. Also, untidiness can make it more difficult for people to find items ranging from files to stationery supplies. By doing a regular deep clean and a comprehensive tidy of your workplace, you can prevent these problems and keep your company’s productivity levels up. Getting into a good routine The benefits of thoroughly cleaning and tidying your office may be clear, but actually sticking to good practice in this area can be tricky unless you put an effective system in place. This may involve making sure your staff do their bit to keep their own workstations tidy, and you’ll also need to ensure that floors and surfaces are kept to up to scratch, bins are emptied and a host of other important tasks are completed frequently. Whether you do this yourself, arrange for an employee to take on these duties or use the services of a professional cleaner, getting into a good routine is key.