Beyond the Surface: The Hidden Costs of Inadequate Office Cleaning

On a Friday night, you look around your business and take in a week’s busy work. Your goals met, new ones made, and now you can rest this weekend. Except you can’t. You notice some details your staff have mentioned: the trash has been overflowing since Wednesday, there is a layer of dust on every monitor, and a funky smell coming from the bathroom. It is too late to call in a last-minute cleaner, and you know that just ignoring office clean-up is going to make it worse next week. Your staff were unhappy last time when one person’s four-week-old lunch finally ended up in the trash on Friday, and the garbage wasn‘t removed until Tuesday. It looks like it is time to get cleaning.

Cleaning an office or any business site can feel like cleaning your home. The tasks are never really done, and it can feel like an enormous chore. With cleaning your business, a basic household cleanup will not do the job. Not cleaning your workplace can have different repercussions than not cleaning your home. It can be very costly to avoid it, not just for you as an office manager or owner, but for your employees and your business’s image. A clean business radiates care and integrity, bringing a sense of confidence to customers.

When your cleaning is not up to par, it isn’t uncommon for it to affect everything: everything from employee retention and health to sales and public relations.

What does a dirty office affect?

Employee Health & Retention

Your employees are critical to your business success Even if you have a small team besides yourself, commercial cleaning is important to help keep your team healthy and happy. A dusty and dirty environment can demoralize people, and when expectations are already high for an employee’s performance, it can make it difficult to keep momentum going.

Employees have left positions that have unsafe and unhealthy environments not only because of the dirt and grime, but because they don’t feel respected. Keeping your business clean for your employees helps you gain respect and confidence that you will do what it takes for their wellbeing.

Negative Image

Have you ever wondered what that patch of graffiti on your outside wall says about your business? Or that overflowing trash can in the hallway that clients see every time they visit?

Things like graffiti and overflowing trash can give a poor impression: ‘they’re not serious or ‘proceed with caution’. A poorly cleaned business reduces trust and diminishes the customer experience. There are also health risks to your customers. If you manage a mall, for example, a lack of commercial cleaning will show in full trash cans, dusty walls, dirty floors, graffiti scratched on bathroom walls. A customer will rush their shopping experience or even turn away. They will be reluctant to return.

An important part of your business is word-of-mouth. One person can affect so much of your business. But it doesn’t stop online. Negative feedback will find its way online, from Google to Yelp, and beyond. A negative customer experience decreases your competitive advantage. This impacts your reputation, and the health of your business.

Pest Infestations

Do bugs make your skin crawl? An unclean environment can bring the pests out you don’t want. Commercial cleaning is essential to help you keep infestations from bothering your business, customers, and staff. If you find ants appearing in your kitchen, you can expect that poor kitchen cleaning is partly to blame.

An infestation can cause the sudden deterioration of your business’s premises. Structural integrity, ruined carpets and flooring, and infested areas can all affect the day-to-day running of your business. It can happen suddenly or slowly. But they need to be dealt with immediately and prevented as best as possible.

Pest infestations can cause more problems. Infestations affect the health and wellbeing of staff, customers, and businesses. Commercial cleaning is one way to help prevent infestations by many pests.

High Costs of Business

Business costs can become high, especially if you have a high-traffic building. Improper commercial cleaning, or even minimal cleaning, can have an enormous impact on your business. Due to accelerated wear and tear, surfaces, equipment, and other areas can see higher costs for maintenance and repair.

Neglecting cleaning or not hiring a commercial cleaning company can damage surfaces, cause system failures because of dust buildup, and deteriorate fixtures and rooms. This means that your business will now face costly repairs or

even replacements. Dirt and grime can grind down on surfaces, and equipment failures from dust can grow your repair builds.

Even poor cleaning practices can harm your building or offices. The wrong cleaning products can damage finishes, fixtures, and counters. This means that your business is going to have low appeal to customers and staff. A poorly maintained workplace can lead to reduced employee productivity and morale, affecting overall business performance.

Commercial Cleaning Helps Keep Your Business Running

Your business image is important, which is why commercial cleaning is critical. As much as the inside counts, the outside does too. A clean business is your customer’s first impression and last one.

Graffiti and dirty entranceways deter customers from engaging with your business. Street appeal brings people into your business. It also promotes a sense of safety and the health of the business. A reputable commercial cleaner to help you. This takes the stress and worry from your shoulders and gives you a sparkling place of business that you can take pride in.

If you are in the London, Ontario area, please contact Clean Works. We’d love to help you.