Admittedly, you could consider cleaning for your office as just a maintenance item to keep your reception looking good for guests. In the City of London, cleaning your office becomes critical for the competitive edge you need for your business.
Sickness absence adds up quickly
Shared surfaces in an office like desks, keyboards, door handles, and food prep areas spread germs. An unclean office can spread a flu or stomach bug which would negatively impact productivity resulting in more losses for the business than the costs to run an efficient cleaning service. It can be justified to spend money on high-touch point cleaning for the flu season as it will more than likely save money in the long run.
Retention and recruitment are affected too
Employees notice the condition of work spaces way more than what the employers think. An unfrequently cleaned office will contribute to low morale and high turnover, especially for new hires who just compare it to the other places they worked before. In a market of jobs in the City of London, competition is high for good talent, and employees’ small environmental observations can significantly impact how they feel about working there, and if they would even talk about it, they rarely do.
First impressions affect more than you might think
Firms conduct business operations in their offices with clients, investors, and even prospective hires on a daily basis. Dirty reception areas, meeting rooms with grubby window glass, or even unpleasant restrooms reflects poorly on the firm and can detract from the valuable work that the firm does. First impressions count in professional services and small details such as these can impact a firm’s reputation for attention to detail and dependability. Candidates who interview at a firm will have developed an opinion about the firm within a few minutes of walking through the reception area, and a clean and well-maintained space will project a firm’s professionalism prior to the commencement of the interview.
- Sickness absence linked to poorly cleaned high-touch surfaces
- Reduced staff morale and productivity in a visibly untidy environment
- Negative first impressions on clients and prospective hires
- Faster wear on carpets, furniture and fittings without regular care
- Higher costs later from deep cleans needed to fix long-term neglect
Neglect compounds over time
Neglecting a firm’s cleaning operations will expand beyond the reception areas. Carpets that are not maintained properly will deteriorate prematurely and will have to be replaced prematurely. Grime that is not dealt with in a timely manner and is allowed to build up on other surfaces in the firm as well as in firm kitchens will ultimately be costlier and more difficult to remove than what would have been the case with routine cleaning. Routine cleaning will cost less in the long run than infrequent deep cleans to remove the neglect that has been allowed to occur.
Getting the balance right between frequency and cost
Not every firm has the same level of cleaning needs, and part of the value in cleaning contracts is the balance between how a firm is used and the frequency of cleaning. Busy areas like reception, bathrooms, and kitchens definitely need daily attention, but less-used meeting rooms or storage areas can be cleaned on a schedule and still maintain standards. Deep daily cleaning of a firm’s entire area may be a waste of money. Similarly scheduling daily cleaning of each area of a firm that is not used regularly may result in less cleaning than it needs. A good cleaning contractor adjusts the cleaning schedule to match a firm’s actual use. The cleaning schedule should be reviewed at least once a year since the way a firm is used may change with the introduction of hybrid work.
Treating cleaning as an investment, not just a cost
Firms that consider the value and the benefit of the cleaning of their offices as the firm’s satisfaction and clients’ wellbeing rather than just cost-cutting benefit the most from having their cleaning contracts reviewed. If your cleaning contracts need improving, it is easy to overlook things that could benefit your firm from the inside. Our office cleaning team would gladly conduct an office cleaning contract review for you at no cost and no obligation to you if your office is in the City of London.