Life is slowly returning to normal after a year of COVID-19. For many of us, that means a return to the office now that vaccinations are happening. It’s a welcome relief after a hard year of working from home. As a business owner, you may feel a little bit nervous about keeping your team safe. You’ve put in the time and effort to step up cleaning and disinfecting practices in the office, but what about your employees? How can you help them comply?
As a professional cleaning company, we’ve worked with various businesses and clients over the years. We’ve seen every kind of office or business mess. Nothing surprises us! All our years of experience have taught us a few things about motivating people to keep their spaces clean. Here’s what we recommend.
- Make sure your employees know it’s a priority. The days of jokingly reprimanding your employees for a dirty or disorganized space are over. There are real consequences for unclean behavior in the office these days. Despite high vaccination rates, COVID-19 is not gone, and vaccinated people can still transmit the virus. Make sure your team understands that proper cleaning and sanitization practices are essential.
- Lead by example. As the owner or manager, you set the tone in your workplace. It’s up to you to demonstrate compliance with Federal and State guidelines. Ensure that you thoroughly study the CDC Returning to Work Guidelines and the OSHA Guidance on preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.
- Make sure your employees have time for cleaning and sanitizing. Your team must make it a regular priority to clean and sanitize their workstations. This could include cleaning their desk, wiping down their phones, light switches, or other touchpoints. Add in time each day for your employees to do this. You could even set the alarm for the whole office to take 10 to 15 minutes to wipe down their space. If your business has customers or other patrons visiting the workplace, ensure that you have employees designated to sanitize customer areas.
- Regularly reach out to your team and ask them about their concerns regarding the cleaning and sanitation practices. They may have insights that you are not aware of or concerns that you need to address. Please keep an open dialogue with your team and support them as they do their best to keep everyone safe.
- Invest in signage to remind your employees of the guidelines. A simple sign can help people remember to make better choices. Signage reminding people to wash their hands, socially distance, and clean their workstations are more necessary than ever. Don’t just put up one sign and think you’re good. Ensure that every work area in your business has appropriate signage outlining all the cleaning and sanitation practices you want followed.
As excited as we all are for life to return to normal, it’s still going to be some time before the pandemic is over. It’s up to all of us to keep doing the things we know will help end the virus’s hold. As a business owner, it’s your job to ensure your workplace is safe for your employees and customers. Following these guidelines will help your team stay safe and keep your workplace clean and sanitized.
