Unless you’re in the business of cleaning offices, you might be wondering how important a clean work environment is for your employees and customers. How clean your business is can affect the reputation of your business, the quality of customer service your employees are able to give and the retention rate of your employees. A messy, unorganized work place creates unnecessary hassle and time management problems.
When customers come into your business, you don’t want them thinking about the stains on the carpet or the mud on the walls. While it may not cause them to run back out the door on that visit, they may hesitate to come back. If your storefront isn’t clean, customers may not consider you a professional. Even if you have a business where you don’t think it matters, like a mechanic shop, areas that customers see need to be as tidy as possible. Make sure someone regularly cleans and stocks the restrooms. If you haven’t already, make sure you’ve upgraded to commercial toilets to prevent maintenance problems later.
Your office should be clean, too, even if your customers never see it. When your employees see a completely clean work environment, they understand that organization is a standard. In the future, if you decide to look for partners or investors, having a clean office to show them will also ensure that you protect your reputation.
Customer Service
Your storefront needs to be organized so that customers and employees can find what they’re looking for. Customers may feel annoyed if they ask where a particular item is located and it takes your employee 15 minutes to find it. At the same time, your employees are less efficient when it comes to taking care of your customers if they have to spend valuable minutes combing the store.
If your office is organized, your employees will be able to find files quicker. This will allow them to deliver speedy and efficient customer service. Making organization a standard within your business will ensure that important files and paperwork don’t often get misplaced.
Employee Retention
Cleanliness can affect employee retention in many ways. For starters, your employees don’t want to work in a dirty environment. Focus and the surrounding cleanliness are often linked. If your work space is messy, you’re less likely to stay on track.
A dirty work environment can also send the signal to your employees that you don’t care about the business. If you don’t care about the business – why should they? This mentality can create a negative mindset in employees, causing them to leave.
By starting off with a clean environment, it’s easier to keep it looking that way. Your employees will take pride in their place of work and strive to keep it looking great. If they’re proud of the work they’re doing, they are likely to stay at their place of work longer.
Work environment cleanliness affects more aspects of your business than you might think. A dirty work environment can damage employee morale and cause poor customer service. A lack of cleanliness can also damage the reputation of your business. By making organization and pristine work spaces the standard at your business, you can avoid many of these problems.