As an entrepreneur or a business owner, the state of your office is probably not top of your daily concerns. It is unfortunate that most business owners only take notice of the environment their employees work in only when things get out of hand since a clean and healthy workspace is one of the pillars of running a successful business.
It is for this reason that you need to make sure your offices are regularly cleaned and maintained. Your employees will be happy, healthy and productive and it will also make a good first impression on new recruits, business partners and potential customers.
Let’s look at some of the other benefits to making sure that your workspaces are kept clean.
1. First impressions count
As we mentioned before, a clean and tidy work environment looks appealing and more importantly welcoming to any potential clients. Dirty floors or smudgy conference room tables give your potential clients the feeling that you lack the necessary professionalism to take care of your employees, let alone a new client. The same can be said for a chaotic reception area. On the other hand, a clean and tidy work environment projects the image of a caring and professional company, which is sure to drive interest.
2. Improving your brand image.
To the average consumer, a tidy work environment implies superior, quality products and services, regardless of the type of work you’re doing, whether it’s serving food, doing taxes or selling furniture. A potential customer will certainly judge your entire brand based on how your office space looks and feels, and that includes any products and services you might be offering. Don’t let a messy work environment result in a potential customer walking away before you even have the chance to speak with them. Also consider the fact that people talk and share opinions, so that one negative impression could lead to you losing a lot more than just one potential customer.
3. Clean environments = happy employees.
Most employees consider their workplaces home away from home, meaning that you need to focus your efforts on keeping it clean and tidy. By keeping the work environment well-maintained, you’re allowing your employees to be productive, efficient, and most important of all, happy.
Your employees are the biggest ambassadors of your brand and business. They will talk about their work with their friends and families, share information on products and services they’re working on using various social media platforms and can attract potential new recruits to your company through word of mouth. If your employees are unhappy or dissatisfied with their work environment, they are less likely to participate in any type of business-related promotion. Not to mention that their productivity drops significantly when they’re working in a messy and unclean workplace.
How to go about keeping your work environment clean
First of all, never task your employees with cleaning duty. Consider hiring a professional cleaning service like Sheen Cleaning, who works on cleaning every part of your workspace, from the floors and carpets, walls and windows to bathrooms, hallways and even the outside of the building. This can either be a one-time deal or if you’re completely satisfied with their services, you can hire them to clean your offices a couple of times a month.
Air quality is another factor that greatly influences the health of your employees, and by extension, the workspace performance.
The number of airborne pollutants is much greater than it is outdoors, which makes investing in a proper filtration system all the more urgent and necessary. A great way to improve the air quality in your company is to invest in plants to filter out excess carbon dioxide and pollutants from the air and provide your workers with additional levels of clean air and oxygen. As an added benefit, plants have a calming effect on people, so this can also help reduce stress levels.
A properly organized cleaning schedule is extremely important. It outlines all the specific work that needs to be done, as well as any responsibilities the company and its employees might have during the cleaning process. Any specific tasks need to be clearly specified and all concerns vocalized. The complaints need to be handled immediately and proficiently by your cleaning company.
In conclusion
A clean and sanitized workspace signifies a level of professionalism and tells potential customers that you care about your brand and your employees. A happy employee is a productive employee, and as such, leaves a far better impression than a worker who needs to deal with a messy workplace and an unhealthy work environment. This is particularly important, as more and more brands are using their workers as a means of promoting their products and services. By keeping the work environment clean, you’re ensuring that your employees are healthy and productive and ready to serve the needs of any client that walks through your doors.
