Cleanliness Boosts Confidence for Returning Employees

Cleanliness Boosts Confidence for Returning Employees

A clean classroom or business is one of the best methods for boosting occupant confidence and relieving workplace stress.

Cleanliness Boosts Confidence for Returning Employees

Cleanliness Impacts Occupant Confidence and Performance

To one degree or another, it appears most people will be returning to the office or classroom at some point this year for a least a few days per week.

The prospect of returning to an enclosed space filled with people other than household family members whose behavior and hygiene is entirely out of the returning worker or student's control has created a notable air of tension and borderline hostility in many corners of the globe.

Compounding the issue are concerns surrounding workplace cleanliness and hygiene--so much so that roughly a quarter of those recently surveyed, and even more millennials, say they would leave their current job if the employer did not focus on improved workplace sanitation.

In order for workers to feel comfortable going back to work, they must know their employers are taking every precaution to create a safe and healthy work environment.

According to the Vital Vio survey report, 17% of respondents are planning to wait a few weeks to go back to the office once it’s deemed “safe,” 11% are planning to wait 1–2 months, and another 11% are saying they will work from home indefinitely.

Americans want employers to focus on protecting workers from harmful germs, finds Vital Vio.

[...] 25% of respondents say they would even leave their job if their employer doesn’t make investments in cleanliness, and this number is even higher for Millennial (31%) workers.

Health and Safety Top Concerns When Returning to Work Post-COVID-19

Their concerns regarding workplace hygiene are not without merit.

Before the pandemic, surface sanitation in offices was abysmal and often resulted in occupant illness.

According to Staples;

The average work desk is actually 400 times dirtier than the average toilet seat.

Shocked?

There are in fact around 10 million bacteria that live on your office desk.

Approximately 80% of common infections are transmitted by touch.

That means that germs are probably spread every time you touch something in the office.

The average computer keyboard harbors around 7500 bacteria and 11% of office workers never clean them!

Less than half of people only sanitize their keyboard less than once a month.

It has been said that viruses such as the flu can survive on such surfaces for up to and sometimes even more than 24 hours!

The scary truth about office hygiene

 

 

The Cost of Workplace Illness

The cost of workplace illness is astronomical.

The impacts are measured in lost workdays, direct financial costs, and decreased productivity.

According to the UK publication, The Clean Space;

Last year the annual cost of sickness leave in the UK was estimated to be around £554 per person according to the CIPD.

Figures for average absences across civil and private sectors ranged anywhere from 5.6 to 8.5 days per person (or thought to be about 2.6% of working time).

These ‘unplanned absences’ and sick days are estimated to decrease UK productivity by 54% overall.

It could also decrease your sales/customer service performance by up to 39% which would create significant losses in any business. The important question for business leaders is – how much of that lost productivity and time could have been mitigated?

Poor hygiene and cleanliness at work continue to top the list of reasons for absence in almost every survey conducted in this area.

How Cleanliness Can Help Boost Productivity

 

The Impact of Cleaning in the Workplace

Poor facility hygiene and cleaning practices demonstrably harm occupants' health, stress levels, and confidence in the school they are attending or the organization that employs them.

Conversely, a recent study of non-profit workers in the Netherlands concluded that improved cleaning positively impacts workplace wellness and performance.

[...] a higher objective cleanliness correlates significantly with a higher perceived productivity of employees working in office environments of non-profit organizations in The Netherlands.

A higher measured cleanliness also correlates significantly with a higher work satisfaction level of employees working in office environments.

Finally, a significant correlation is found between the satisfaction of employees with their work as a whole and the perceived productivity of the employees; a higher satisfaction leads to a higher perceived productivity.

Impact of cleanliness on the productivity of employees

The most commonly cited benefits of improved workplace cleanliness and hygiene, in regards to occupants, are:

  • Morale boosts.
  • Reduced absenteeism.
  • Increased employee motivation and happiness.
  • Improved concentration.
  • Higher levels of engagement, and;
  • Increased productivity.

Source:

 

Takeaway

Convincing workers to return to the workplace will be a challenge for many organizations and industries and will require schools and businesses to gain and maintain the trust of future facility occupants through a combination of safety and cleanliness protocols.

In regards to ensuring environmental safety, the two most critical areas are ventilation and surface sanitation.

A safe environment to return to includes cleanliness—both in terms of what workers can see and what goes on behind the scenes—and ventilation systems.

This is consistent with other Deloitte research that explored which safety measures are table stakes for returning to work.

The most important factors identified were regular cleaning of equipment and shared spaces by a cleaning service (64% of survey respondents) and regular spraying/fogging to disinfect shared spaces (60%).

If we rebuild, will they come back?

Outsourcing is a proven method for ensuring the highest standards of cleanliness, safety, and training while controlling costs and eliminating management overhead.

If you would like more information regarding the effectiveness of high-performance infection prevention and control measures, or if you would like to schedule a free, no-obligation onsite assessment of your facility's custodial needs, contact us today for a free quote!

In Bakersfield, CA, call (661) 437-3253

In Fresno, CA, call (559) 206-1059

In Valencia CA, or Santa Clarita CA, call (661) 437-3253

In Palmdale, CA or Lancaster, CA, call (661) 371-4756


Vanguard Cleaning Systems of the Southern Valley

Vanguard Cleaning Systems of the Southern Valley