Can a cleaner environment in London's many offices really boost productivity? Yes, it can and here's why...
Workspaces are shared environments and this means that infections can spread around them like wildfire. If just one employee turns up to work with a bacterial infection during the right phase of its life cycle, then it can be passed on to dozens more. However, sick people continue to turn up to work even if they know they ought to stay at home, exacerbating the problem. Cleaning deals with much of the loss of productivity that might be expected of a contagion being brought into the office.
Most bacteria don't do us much harm and the ones that do are not very long-lived outside of the body. However, infections inevitably pass on because people handle the same things in an office soon after one another. Equipment like telephones, photocopiers and computer terminals cannot be quarantined. Therefore, they need to be wiped down regularly with anti-bacterial cleaning products. If cleaning in the office space is done frequently, then workers catch bacterial infections from one another much less regularly, thereby reducing the number of sick days a business will suffer from.
London may be one of the greatest cities on the face of the planet to live and work in, but there are a couple of things that irk all of us in the capital. Congestion is a big issue for people who need to get to their office on time in the morning, and related to this is air quality. Vehicles and other pollution sources in the city mean that many Londoners suffer from respiratory problems. According to work undertaken by King's College London, some 2,411 hospital admissions a year in the capital are down to airborne pollutants.
Now, office managers who are responsible for cleanliness in the workplace can do little about the outside air quality, but they can certainly make their internal working environment free from airborne particulates, such as common dust, and thereby improve productivity. Not only will employees want to stay in the office environment without heading out for extended periods, certainly during hazy days, but they are also less likely to report in sick due to respiratory problems. Anyone with an underlying respiratory condition may really need a good level of air quality in the office to prevent a minor health issue becoming a major one. This means maintaining your air-conditioning system, but also dealing effectively with microbes and breathable particles that build up on desks, floors, workstations and office telephones.
When staff members feel they are getting a raw deal, they just don't work to their full potential. It is human nature to cut a few corners or take the easier path when you feel that your employer is not looking after you. Of course, gaining the respect of employees comes down to many factors including pay, holiday entitlement and terms and conditions. Crucially, it will also come down to the physical environment that work is conducted in. If windows are not cleaned and break out areas not swept for crumbs and other debris, staff members soon feel that they are not being looked after adequately.
Want to get the best out of your team and boost productivity? Keep their working environment spick and span. Hiring good staff in London, where the job market is more robust than anywhere else in the UK, is more costly than retaining the ones you already have. So, give them somewhere pleasant to work in. This approach to cleanliness and tidiness is nothing more than positive psychology that simply boosts morale.