Your employees spend a considerable amount of their time in your office space. No matter what their lifestyle looks like, if anything goes wrong with them inside the office, the official authorities will be blamed for the same. Likewise, if they fall sick during office hours, other employees will start doubting the environment in your organization. To avoid all this, you must ensure that your office is an ideal and healthy place for your employees to be and work. Regular facility cleaning is just one of the many things you must look after. Some other things you must do for a healthy workplace are as follows:
Encourage Short Breaks
Short breaks are necessary! No matter how productive and work-oriented your employees are, they all need small breaks to freshen up and relax. Small breaks, irrespective of their kind, can help your employees to get some fresh air and then resume work with a better attitude. Too much of the work will only make them exhausted at the end of the day. You can encourage your employees to take breaks in different ways. Some ways can be
- Take a walk across the area, loosen up their sitting position, get into motion, and then resume working.
- Do some easy desk and standing exercises that will relieve them.
- Create a “breathing spot” in your office with a lot of windows, plants, and comfortable couches where they can go and get some nice air and view.
- Create a space for watercooler conversations where people can come together and have quick chats.
Get Office Deep Cleaned
Getting your office deep cleaned every month is a must. Regular facility cleaning does help a lot in keeping your workspace healthy. However, deep cleaning helps in removing tough stains and germs that may unknowingly be responsible for making your employees and you sick. Therefore, it is essential to clean every nook and corner, every element of your office thoroughly, especially the commonly ignored places. Allergens and germs can get trapped in your office carpets, rugs, curtains, and upholstery. So ask your facility cleaning company to perform a deep cleaning of every fabric in your office. Think about the places that aren’t often cleaned – something like your office windows, doors, and walls. Get these elements cleaned every year so that your employees can perform well. Also, cleaning doors and windows will let natural sunlight in, which means that your staff will feel refreshed and lively throughout the day. And make a list of everything that isn’t cleaned every day or week and put them under the monthly deep cleaning list.
Use the Right Janitorial Supplies
Your facility cleaning and janitorial teams know the best products in the market that they should use for office cleaning and maintenance. However, it often happens that the best products available aren’t the healthiest ones. Yes, there’s a health factor to these office cleaning products as well. These products contain strong bleaches and chemicals that may be harmful to your employees. Strong smell and rough to touch surfaces left after cleaning aren’t a few things that your staff will be comfortable with. Therefore, use products that are milder and “green” for the environment. For instance, you can get Unitab sanitizing tablets instead of your usual bleaching products to keep your office clean as these tablets have mild pH that’s safe for humans.
Add Plants
Plants generally make your employees feel fresh and happy. Bringing nature into your office can be a great way to inspire creativity and a feeling of wellness. Moreover, plants can keep the temperature inside your office regulated and also help in purifying the air inside. In other words, placing plants in your office will have psychological as well as health-related benefits. When keeping plants in your office, keep in mind a few things. Get plants with green leaves and don’t opt for succulents or cacti. Succulents and cacti actually do the opposite of making your employees feel relaxed. Also, get plants, especially flowering plants with a mild smell. Too strong smell can irritate or distract your staff. And if you don’t have enough space in your office to keep large plants, you can place one small potted plant in each cubicle or on each desk bay. Don’t forget the dining area; keep a plant there as well.
Think About the Eating Area
Have a dedicated area where your employees can go to get out of their own environment and have meals. Doing so has numerous reasons behind it, such as:
- Employees can get along and eat together. This relaxes them from the stress of work and gives them a short break of leisure time with their friends and colleagues. This helps in resetting their minds for better productivity.
- Eating away from the workstation prevents mindless eating and then feeling unhealthy or bloated for the rest of the day.
- Sitting away from the workstation also keeps food crumbs away from work desk and electronic items like keyboard and mouse. These crumbs may not be cleared during facility cleaning and may remain there. Germs and insects may start thriving on food leftover and may disturb your employees.
So, create a separate pantry space for your employees where they can sit together and eat. And make sure that your facility cleaning staff cleans the entire eating arena every day to keep this area free from any germs and allergens.
Apart from these, make sure that your facility cleaning team cleans desks and cubicles, washrooms, reception area, smoking zones, and every other room in your office every day. These are the places where your employees will be all the time. Also, don’t ignore furniture failures. Call facility on demand service providers to repair chairs and desks at the earliest so that your employees don’t get hurt or they don’t feel any discomfort using the furniture.