When you run a small business, it’s extremely tempting to ask employees to pitch in on all of the cleaning activities in order to keep costs down. Of course, your employees have jobs to do as well, which usually means that hiring a cleaning company may be the best way to save money. The truth is, even when you run a larger business or already have a cleaning company on the payroll, there are things your employees inherently have to keep clean themselves. Every cubicle needs to be tidied throughout the day. Papers, food, receipts and more pile up quickly on your employees’ desks. It’s unreasonable to think anyone could keep up with everyone in the office, so the trick is knowing where to draw the line. That is, what cubicle cleaning tasks employees should be responsible for (even when you outsource commercial cleaning help).
3 Cubicle Cleaning Tasks Employees Should be Responsible for
- Personal Effects Anything employees have brought from home that is not work related – whether it’s a sweater or personal pictures – is their responsibility to keep clean. Cleaning crews are not responsible for keeping their sweaters hung up, and you are not responsible for paying for someone else to hang up their sweaters. Of course, cleaning personal effects can feel like a gray area; pictures need to be dusted, and cubicles and partitions cleaned. The bottom line is that while the cleaning crew you pay for is going to make your office shine, your employees can help make that a daily reality by maintaining their personal effects in an orderly fashion.
- Work Papers and Materials While work papers need to be taken out regularly and likely aren’t going to be perfectly organized at all moments, making sure they’re not strewn haphazardly about the cubicle counter or floor is a reasonable expectation for your employees. Make sure employee cubicles have adequate shelf, counter, cabinet and/or drawer space to organize and store paperwork and office supplies. Items like pens and paper clips can easily be sorted and organized by employees to let your cleaning crew focus on the deeper cleaning needs.
- Dishes and Food Stuffs In your office, it’s almost certain that employees will eat at their desks, drink coffee while checking in with the receptionist, or fix meals in the break room. It’s a fairly standard practice for employers to expect their employees to clean up their food mess and any dishes associated with their meals. This is a reasonable expectation for you to have of your employees; cleaning up their dishes won’t disrupt from your employees’ abilities to do their jobs and helps to keep your office fresh and clean.
The bottom line is that your employees should be able to focus on their work. However, that doesn’t mean they are completely without responsibility for keeping their spaces tidy. Common cleaning tasks like throwing out garbage or organizing work papers can be easy ways to keep things neat.
When Employee Cleaning Isn’t Enough
With that said, letting a commercial cleaning company focus on heavy duty cleaning can allow your employees to do what they do best – their work. The easiest way to keep your business clean on a regular basis is to hire a professional team to clean. Let us do the cleaning work for you – either on a regular schedule or for your one-time cleans. Click here to learn more about the janitorial services we can help you with.
Our professional cleaning staff is bonded, insured, and maintains OSHA compliance. We are happy to clean all of your workplace. Please contact us online or call us at 571.451.0441 for answers to your cleaning questions and to schedule your personalized janitorial cleaning estimate today!
