Most office employees spend a considerable amount of time at the workplace in common areas, like break rooms or cafeterias. These are also where food is often stored and eaten. But these spaces can get dirty with spills and messes that can pose a health risk if not cleaned up right away. Here are three simple tips on how you can encourage cleaner workplaces.
Offer Incentives to Employees
Offer incentives such as earning points towards company rewards programs when people put effort into keeping their work area clean, so they don’t have to worry about losing those valuable points over something trivial like spilled coffee! Will keep your workforce motivated to do what they need to do while still having fun doing it! It’s an easy win-win.
Don’t Let Things Pile Up: Train Employees to Take Responsibility.
Keep an eye on the general cleanliness of common areas by walking around periodically throughout your day. If something needs attention, take care of it right away; don’t let things pile up. If you have eaten something in the common area, you must pick it up, put the dishes back in the kitchen, and throw away the garbage. The above point about incentives will take care of the people who are not motivated enough to clean after them. As a company, you should embed this in your core value to show respect to your coworker and always clean after you. Don’t let things pile up, as that when things start to pile up, nothing gets done. A company should try to hold seminars and training sessions for their employees regarding this issue. Such seminars can be a great way to communicate the importance and benefits of a cleaner and safer workplace common area.
Put Trash Cans in Strategic Locations
Put trash cans in strategic locations, so they are always within reach and easy to see when it is time for a new one. Keep hand sanitiser affixed on the wall in the common area, especially if you’re going to be touching plates and spoons from the cafeteria. Have things like tissue paper and wipes easily available so if there is a spill, it can be taken care of right then and there.
There is nothing better than prevention of the spread of dirtiness. So instead of focusing on cleaning, you should focus on preventing the place from going dirty. If employees take Responsibility for keeping their common area safe and clean, they can achieve a lot. However, with that being said, you still need to get a janitor for your business. If an employee does not clean the mess created by them, then it will affect other employees health and work, and the company cannot afford that to happen. So as a boss or a supervisor, you can ask the respective employee to be more careful in the future, but your janitorial staff can take care of the mess in the meantime. This is why it is essential to have a janitorial staff on duty.