Given that we are still in the middle of a pandemic, hygiene is still one of the most important conversations that you can have in your business. When it comes to the workplace, you have got several people moving in and out of a confined space all day long. They each touch the buttons of the elevator, they each touch the handles on the doors, and if those people in your office are sharin filing cabinets or open desks, they will be touching different surfaces together. The fact that you may not have a hygiene strategy in place is a question mark over your business, and if you do currently have a strategy for cleanliness, you need to up your game.
You can read more about what you need to know to keep your business hygienic, but when it comes to your workplace, cleanliness and personal hygiene should be a priority for you. Nobody wants their employees looking unkempt and unshowered, any more than they want an office with gritty carpets and dusty desks. Every single workplace needs to be hygienic and not just for the reputation of your business, but to ensure that you lower the absentee rates when people are not getting sick. A hygienic workplace matters if you want to have an excellent workplace, and one of the best ways to do that is with implementation of hygiene policies that everybody in the office from the CEO to the cleaners themselves must adhere to. We’ve got some of the best reasons that you need to take your workplace hygiene more seriously.
- Employee satisfaction rates will go right up. You want people working for you to be happy, because content workers are productive. If you are looking to have a workplace where people want to spend time, it has to be clean. When people are happy in their working environment, they don’t interview elsewhere for other jobs. In fact, they will talk about your workplace as they think they are treated really well. This reduces employee turnover, and stops people from pulling sick days.
- It’s all about the reputation. You don’t just want to impress the employees working for you, you need to impress the clients. Suppliers, clients, investors – these are all people that will move in and out of your business. They need to move in and out of a space that is hygienic and clean at all times. The first impression is the one that matters the most, and if your workplace visitors are not feeling it, they will spread the word. As you know, word of mouth is one of the most important things that you can rely on for people to promote your business, so if your business is not a clean place people will talk about it.
- Your employees will be much healthier. Staff absenteeism disrupts the whole business. If you constantly have the same stuff out of the business over and over again because the cleanliness of your office is affecting their health, then you’re going to be spending out through the nose to afford the sick pay – because it will be all your fault. An unclean and dirty workplace increases cases of employee sickness, which cost your business a considerable amount of money. With the right work hygiene, you can stop passing viruses and bacteria to and for everybody, and that insures a safe and healthy work environment.
- Slowing the spread. This is not just about the health situation. A clean office space, parking lot and stairwell can prevent the spread of any bacteria and viruses. Training on office workplace hygiene and safety is important, and it should be a standard part of your workplace training plan. Most employees are oblivious to how much dirt gathers on their workstations, but your training should cover this. If you then ensure that you are providing hand sanitizing stations, and optional masks, you will ensure that your employees are healthier for longer and you can prevent the spread of any more bacteria. You should also implement a stay at home policy when people are not feeling very well, so they cannot spread their bacteria to the rest of the people in the office. This way, you will ensure that people are healthy and they feel like you care about their welfare.
There are so many simple things that you can do to tweak your current hygiene policies in your office. Either way, you need to have your employees and their well-being in mind when you write these policies in the first place. It will make all the difference to the way your office runs and creates a healthier and more productive working environment.
