One of the business owner’s top jobs is to manage a business as well as his office staff. Furthermore, the office environment also does deserve to be looked into at regular intervals. A clean and proper workplace puts a great impact on employee productivity, performance and well-being. This is why you need to ensure that the workplace is in proper shape and regularly checked for proper maintenance by phs.co.uk.
Eventually, making the employees happy and leaving the best first impression on the customers and prospective employees, as your primary goal.
Most of the elite businessmen, directors and company shareholders would never compromise on the ambience and clean clutter-free look of their office. It’s not only the product that they are selling, but they also carry a brand and its name which is vital to maintain. A disorganised workplace can be a dip to your potential and existing business.
For big multinational companies, staff satisfaction is of utmost importance. They look into every difficulty that the staff might be facing. In many countries, companies have day-care areas for their staff infants, who are accompanying their working parent.
Google with 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2) of office space, YouTube and Facebook, have built out of the box offices, by providing some small retreat and relaxation areas that are equipped with mini-golf, some pool tables and many other indoor activities within the premises of the office. They have created a remarkable difference in the productivity of their employees and job satisfaction by providing the leverage to get revamped during working hours for further outstanding work.
1. Prevents Sicknesses
It has often been seen that once the workload increases and the productivity level reaches higher than usual, cleanliness gets almost totally ignored. The tight office schedule and meeting deadlines make it difficult to spare some time for you to realise the untidy environment you are in. The gruesome environment gives birth to a number of viral diseases, infections and safety hazards. When employees work in a messy environment, they are at a greater risk of a safety hazard. According to the Occupational Safety and Hazard Association (OSHA), safety hazard is anything in the workplace that may cause harm. An unhygienic workplace causes germs and bacteria to spread, which make the employees sick and absent from work putting up the business go into loss.
2. First Impression
For any business to grow, the first impression that impacts upon entering the workplace leaves an everlasting mark on your clients. There is a very famous saying,
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression”
Similarly, any place that we see for the first-time registers inside our brains as an everlasting memory. This is stored in our sub-conscious mind, sending signals to end up into a judgmental verdict. It is imperative to regulate proper maintenance rules at all times, without leaving any loophole and adopting as a company policy.
3. Reduces the Loss of Cost and Time
Nobody likes getting sick, but an unhealthy workspace and infected environment could arrest anyone into the trap of getting ill on and off. This would eventually mean that a greater number of employees would be going on sick leave. Hence, the business will get highly-affected, giving reduced profit margins. An unhygienic office space puts their employees to the risk of getting infected with germs and allergens, due to the dust and debris inside and even in the vicinity of the office. Proper disinfecting companies and dust removing organisations could be hired, at nominal rates to put a lid on such dangers.
4. Brand Image
It does not matter what business you are in. A clean working environment depicts the superior standards and quality products. Whether it is a restaurant, car showroom or a day-care centre. Your clients will mostly judge you by the setting, ambience and the hygiene conditions of your office space. Don’t let your future customers walk back with a negative opinion.
5. Employee Satisfaction
On average, an employee spends around eight hours a day in the workplace and sometimes work requirements make him or her sit for long hours to meet the deadlines. A clean work environment allows your employees to be productive efficient and satisfied and all of this leads to greater happiness. Employee satisfaction is the direct display of your brand and business ethics. In case your employee is unhappy or dissatisfied with the office environment, they will not be productive and could present a negative image to your clients.
6. Environment-Friendly Approach
It is very important that you create environmental awareness within the organisation and educate your employees as well to maintain a clean and tidy workspace. In order to be a responsible inhabitant of this planet, it is important to follow the four R’s - reduce, reuse, recycle and respect. Proper fumigation, water filtration systems and air purifiers can help a great deal to improve the air quality inside your office space. Businesses that comply with the environment-friendly approach are in greater limelight, appreciated and followed by other businesses.
7. Attracts Customers
In any business, welcoming your prospective customers in the most reasonable manner into a clean and tidy office makes a great difference in the outcome. Presentation in the customer relationship is of vital importance and clean environment-friendly office space gives such positive vibes that the prospective customer turns into your long-retained customers. It also reflects your efficiency of work and makes your customers feel comfortable.
8. Reduces the Negativity
A clean and healthy environment brings out the positivity from inside and spreads around like wildfire since it has a contagious attribute. Adding up indoor plants reflects positivity, emits good vibes and helps in filtering out excess of carbon dioxide and pollutants in the air.
9. Reduces Employee Turnover
An unhygienic workplace and infected environment leave the working employees into despair. The companies that do not take measures to provide satisfactory office environment and a healthy and hygienic workspace, struggle to retain their current employees. Unhygienic conditions lead to unhealthy staff which leads them unsatisfied and hence greater employee turnover effects the businesses negatively with lesser productivity.
10. Essential to Safety
A messy office environment can be a hazard for the employees because it can result in slips, trips and falls. This was the second leading cause of nonfatal occupational injuries or illnesses involving days away from work in 2013. Cluttered office environment with equipment lying at the wrong place or an emergency exit, may result in great safety threat. The OSHA’s walking-working-surfaces standards state that all workplaces should be clean and maintained in proper condition.
