How Implementing a Simple Cleaning Routine at Your Office can Improve Company Morale and Results
This article is about how implementing a simple cleaning routine at your office can improve company morale and results. The article was contributed by guest author Dmitri Kara.
A healthy office setup stands for a clean and tidy environment. Employees need a work space they can enjoy before and after they enter and leave the office.
A clean office is a healthy office.
It is obvious that most companies would clearly want to set employee expectations and habits in a way that affects in-office culture and productivity in a positive manner for the long term.
Implementing a simple routine for your employees, to declutter and wipe dirt of their desk, at a company level altogether at the end of the day, is a truly clever approach to productive behaviour hacking. This clever trick comes with a set of benefits, both for employees and your business as a whole.
It also comes with a healthy effect at in-office communication, discipline and thus overall efficiency. It will therefore have a positive impact on results too.
Requirements are as simple as they can get:
- Paper towel.
- Detergent spray.
Physical and Health Aspects for Employees
Implementing a healthy cleaning routine will benefit employees’ physical and mental condition. A clean environment is a guarantee for less germs or allergy triggers. A clean and neat office is crucial for a healthy workflow and progress.
Hygiene is the #1 reason for illness. By implementing a simple cleaning routine could have an huge impact on the overall health of your team.
When you encourage people to wipe their desk altogether on a daily basis, there will be far less dust floating in the air. Dust is considered the main reason for triggering various in-office allergies.
With people often spending more than 8 hours a day in the office, hygiene is the #1 reason for illness in the workplace and implementing such a simple routine could have an fantastic impact on the overall health of your team.
Psychological Effects on Employees
As for the psychological effect, studies show that employees are more efficient when they take an active part in organisation and maintaining order and hygiene. This will not only keep everybody mentally alert, but will also help people become more productive both on a personal level and as a team.
Furthermore, implementing the simple 5 to 10 minute cleaning routine, will help employees build the solid sense of being part of a team.
Employees are more likely to get distracted if their surroundings are cluttered and messy. Truth is, most people cannot fully focus, and a great way to bring-in that sense of shared responsibility is by implementing the 5 to 10 minute routine.
A simple 5 to 10 minute ‘altogether’ cleaning routine will help employees to build a solid sense of being part of a team.
All employees have to do, is to wipe and clean their desk prior to leaving the office. This technique is a clever way to implement the so called “social self-control”, where employees monitor, help and guide each other. The psychological effect of this social hack will surely benefit your workflow in the long term. Although it is as simple as it can get, this behavior hack will show results rather fast.
A further benefit of the 5 to 10 minute cleaning routine, is the chance of further workflow improvements. By encouraging employees to take care of their desks altogether, could lead to other progressive ideas and creative practices.
The Morale Aspect on Employees
As for morale, employees will be happier and prouder of both their workplace and the team as a whole, where everybody takes part in ‘cleaning together’.
Consider this as a team building technique. But rather than having a one-time impact, you could develop an ongoing process of improving company morale on a wide scale.
Using the so called “sheep factor” is one of the best ways to improve the way we behave as a community. Imagine everybody in your office doing their fast 5 minute wipe and polish.
As a species bound to social laws, we tend to follow the pack no matter what. Nobody would intentionally back-off their social responsibility, as that is how our brains work.
Utilise this concept via a simple cleaning routine and you will set your office environment to further develop and improve it in the long term.
Organisation and Productivity
Do not hesitate! The overall effect on your company and business could be more than just good, it could be fantastic. Any company with happy employees will always be focused on it’s way to success.
Better morale improves employee retention and creates a good working environment.
According to statistics, the larger percentage of employee retention is indeed related to their working environment. Setting the play right is the best way to encourage personal development and motivation.
To implement the simple 5 to 10 minute routine is amongst the simplest and most efficient ways in achieving this without hefty organisation nor investment. Most companies hire dedicated cleaners, because management doesn’t realise the many benefits of involving employees in basic hygiene.
Of course, you cannot delegate each and every hygiene chore to employees. This concept is not implying this in any way. The idea here is not focused at cleaning itself, but rather at how this simple routine could help employees come together. The emphasise is more at everyone being part of the team.
Conclusion on How Implementing a Simple Cleaning Routine at Your Office can Improve Company Morale and Results:
This article is about office hygiene. It’s about how by organising this on a company level, it can have a great impact to your business in general. The concept here is about the many benefits for both employees and the company itself. To encourage employees to care and organise their work desk, on a daily basis, is an amazing behavioural hack.
This will improve overall productivity and joy of work.
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Related: Presenteeism in the workplace and what does presenteeism mean
Dmitri Kara is a prolific writer and is the owner of Fantastic Cleaners London.
