Commercial cleaning can be mistakenly viewed as a business expense with little or no impact on the bottom line. Some managers and owners view cleaning as simply an aesthetic concern separate from the products they produce or the services they offer. Sure, commercial cleaning has significant labor costs and materials and equipment costs can be substantial, and yet, acceptable commercial cleaning and a clean workplace can have big impact on your bottom line.
When Considering Commercial Cleaning, It’s Not Just About Looks
A clean workplace is not just about things looking good, there are real and tangible benefits to a clean work environment. Just what’s at stake when your facilities are less than clean? Worker health and safety can be compromised if your facilities don’t get cleaned and maintained regularly. Likewise, employee morale and output is likely to suffer if a dirty workplace isn’t remedied. And of course, the message a less than clean workplace sends to your customers or potential hires is not a positive one.
Commercial Cleaning & Employee Health & Safety
One of the most important benefits a successful commercial cleaning regime offers is it protects the health and safety of your employees. Certainly, most managers and owners want their employees to be healthy and safe for their own sake but beyond that, unhealthy or injured employees cost you money. Absenteeism and low productivity are common problems in a dirty workplace. Bathrooms and shared areas that are not cleaned sufficiently and regularly promote the transmission of disease causing bacteria. This can cause more colds, flus and more. This in turn causes more absenteeism because sick people make more sick people sending absenteeism out of control.
A reputable commercial cleaning service understands how to best focus their cleaning work on keeping these communal areas clean and reduce the viral and bacterial loads that impact your workers. Likewise, a knowledgeable commercial cleaning service understands the importance of touch points. Touch points are those areas like phones, computer keyboards, doors and light switches that many people regular come into contact with. These touch points left dirty, can be an easy pathway for germs and disease to spread from one employee to the next. When you find the right commercial cleaning service, they can focus on the areas in your facilities that will help keep your people healthy, safe and on the job.
A Dirty Workplace is a Morale Killer
There are many “types” of employees within an industry but let’s talk about two as they relate to commercial cleaning. The first is a knowledgeable high performer. These are your people that seem to consistently get their jobs done well with minimal managing. For higher performing employees, a dirty work place can quickly become a thorn in their side. The feeling of care and concern about the work you produce gets trampled upon when you think the people you work for don’t share that concern. Over time, a dirty work environment can be an invitation for otherwise loyal, quality people to job shop hoping to find a company that operates with the level of professionalism they connect with. If your offices are dirty, you risk losing some of your best people, people who positively impact new hires and other middle of the road employees.
On the other side we have the employees at the other end of the spectrum. These are the lower output people who always seem to have an excuse for their low productivity or quality of work. When you allow the workplace to devolve into a state of dirty or disrepair, you give your more problematic employees just the excuse they need to cover poor performance. How can you ask your people for their best when dirty or good enough is what you give them? A clean office and work environment sets the right professional tone . On that same note, if you are considering offloading cleaning tasks to employees hired for other duties, think again. A receptionist hired to greet clients and answer the phone who is asked to clean the toilets probably won’t be with you long. It is best to let cleaners clean and your workers work.
Speak Volumes About Your Professionalism With Solid Commercial Cleaning
The physical state of your facilities speaks volumes to your customers, employees and even your competitors. If your facilities are dirty or in disrepair, what message do you think you’re sending? To customers, it might be that you lack the attention to detail they want. Or they might surmise that you are not capable of holding people accountable. To an employee, a dirty workplace sends a message of apathy and if you don’t care, why should they? On that same note, a workplace in disarray may chase away great potential hires who get the wrong message about your organization. To the competition, inadequate cleaning or maintenance may suggest you are having financial or organizational problems.
Even if your customers don’t have regular contact with your facilities, a clean and well-run facility attracts and keeps the most talented and dedicated employees. Solid performers want an environment that supports and reflects the level of professionalism they aspire to. A clean workplace tells everyone involved that you care about your business and your facilities down to the seemingly smallest details and that you are on top of it. Getting the right commercial cleaning company doesn't have to bleed you dry or cost a bundle. Whether your run a general office or require medical office cleaning , a clean, healthy and safe workplace helps engender the positive feelings of responsibility, attention to detail and accountability that are critical for a successful operation and healthy bottom line.
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