How a Professional Cleaning Boosts Productivity

Running a business is all about maximizing profits. This often means cutting costs for what might be deemed non-essential. It is not uncommon for companies to view office cleaning services as non-essential, however, whether you have a tiny office with just a few team members or one with hundreds of employees, cleanliness in the workplace is a must to maximize production of your team. A professional cleaning can help boost productivity in a number of ways including the following.

Improved Morale

A clean environment helps create a more positive attitude that is noticed in employee morale. High employee morale not only increases productivity but can also help you retain a stronger team and improve job satisfaction. A clean workplace makes it less depressing for staff to come to work each day and also shows you take pride in your business. If you don’t care about your business, why should your team? Cleanliness and a pleasing experience also add a feeling of trust in organizations which also improves morale and increases productivity.

Work Satisfaction

Studies have found that work satisfaction is related to the cleanliness of the work environment. Job satisfaction and happiness keep employees motivated so they are more likely to perform more effectively. Simple things like meeting their needs with a clean environment show that you care, which keeps people more productive. Long-term employee satisfaction also increases productivity by helping reduce turnover which can cause disruption to business and impact its success.

Efficiency

A clean environment also helps keep things operating more smoothly. Dust build-up can interfere with the operation of the equipment you depend on every day. By keeping dust to a minimum through daily professional cleanings, everything from computers to photocopiers will operate more smoothly. This reduces interruptions due to breakdowns and the costs of service calls.

Organization

Your staff can easily find what they need in a clean environment. Whether it is finding creamer in the break room or paper in the copy room, keeping things clean and organized reduces the effort and time required for simple tasks. Clutter equals disorganization so having regular cleanings that keeps everything in its proper place keeps things running more smoothly.

Reduced Sick Days

This is an important one. Your office is filled with germs that can spread sickness to your employees. Whether it is germs in the bathroom or contamination by sick workers, having a thoroughly cleaned office each evening helps remove the risk of illness. When workers have unhygienic workspaces, they are exposing others to viruses that can survive for months on surfaces.

When you consider that the typical office desk is covered in 400 times more bacteria than a toilet seat, regular cleanings are a must. Many people do not wash their hands after using the bathroom or blowing their nose, which means they are leaving a trail of germs on every surface they touch from the photocopier to the elevator buttons and coffee machines to phones.

This becomes even more important in open-plan and shared-desk workplaces where staff are 62 percent more likely to be sick than those who have their own assigned workspaces.  Cleaner offices result in a 12.5 percent decrease in sick days in hand with increased productivity.

Reduced Stress

An organized, cleanly workspace helps reduce stress in the workplace. Studies have shown that 57 percent of employees who felt stressed out at work said they were less productive compared to those who felt less stress at just 10 percent.

Fresher Smelling Office

Studies have shown that productivity is enhanced by pleasant ambient fragrances. Pleasant smells lead to higher self-efficacy, improved goal setting and more efficient work strategies. They also enhance vigilance when performing tedious tasks. When working with the presence of bad odours, people have worse judgment, tend to get frustrated more easily, and also have less pleasant moods. Clean equals fresh!

Reduced Clutter

A cluttered desk or office has been shown to negatively impact employee mood, resilience, and productivity. It also contributes to stress, which negatively affects mood and morale. The messier the environment the more emotional and mental distress it causes. This contributes to a feeling that workers have no control over their lives. Focus is restricted and causes distractions making it difficult for workers to concentrate on the tasks at hand. It reduces the ability to process information and puts a strain on mental resources, leading to frustration.

Filth-o-Meters

We all have a built-in “filth-o-meter” that triggers a feeling of disgust when faced with things we consider unclean. Although this varies greatly from person to person, it can be quite powerful and have a drastic impact on our psyche. Common issues might include a build-up of garbage, a dirty fridge in the lunchroom, grime in the microwave, filthy bathrooms, or an office with cluttered halls.

In unclean work environments for those with a hypersensitive sense of disgust even simple things that seem harmless to most such as dust can lead to feelings of revulsion. Because filth and dirt are considered unpleasant for most people, keeping an unclean office can lead to very negative effects that reflect on productivity.

Mess Begets Mess

An interesting study showed that mess can lead to more mess. When people are introduced to a messy environment it can change the habits of even the neatest person. In fact, those who frown upon litter admitted that when in an environment that was already dirty, they were more likely to litter.

Having an unclean office sends the wrong message to staff who will assume they can treat the space like a pigsty, as the management are not doing anything to discourage mess. Unclean offices set a standard that leads to increased bad behaviour and can even cause tension amongst workers. No one feels they should be the one to empty the garages, get toilet paper from the storeroom or empty the dishwasher.

Creating ownership can rally people to do the right thing. By creating a clean environment, it increases a sense of ownership and people work together more productively. A neat and clean work environment is a must to create happy workers who will remain committed to the business and become more productive.

To learn more about how professional office cleaning can improve workplace productivity, call RBC Cleaning at 1-866-278-8208 or contact us here.