Every workplace has a different approach to cleanliness, but everyone needs some kind of janitorial plan. Trashcans have to be emptied and the floors mopped or vacuumed just to keep an office livable. This is normally done by hiring janitorial staff or a cleaning service to take care of things during off-hours.However, some employers decide that they can simply rely on their regular staff to keep the office clean. In some ways, this is true, but there are also a few notable hallmarks of an office maintained just by the staff. A lingering sticky spot on the break room floor, bathrooms that are never properly stocked with essentials, and secret caches of grit hidden in the corners. In other words, shared staff janitorial duties always fall short. Wondering why your staff can be experts in their field and terrible janitors? Here’s why:
1. Only a Few Specific Tasks Are Done
When people are asked to ‘keep their work space clean’, they decide personally what that means. Some will simply sweep their cookie crumbs onto the floor while others will start polishing and vacuuming around their personal desk areas. Usually, employees think of personal janitorial duties as emptying their trash cans and cleaning up their own spills.But whatever an employee decides is their duties, that is what they will do every day with little to no variance or worry about cleanliness outside their personal work space.
2. Shared Spaces Are Always Dirty
This means that shared spaces will always be dirty. Most of us have worked somewhere with a break room that is eternally sticky, or a copy room with dust bunnies the size of movie monsters. Some people will flat-out refuse to ever take responsibility for shared areas. Those that do clean won’t want to do so all the time. No one wants to clean and restock the bathroom. This will ultimately result in less-than-clean shared spaces that become a point of contention between the staff.
3. No One is Responsible for Maintenance
While your staff may be alight emptying their own trashcans, no one will feel responsible for maintenance. Even bathroom cleaning is beyond the pale for additional janitorial duties. Not a single employee is going to accept being asked to keep the vents and ducts clean, handle minor plumbing issues, or tighten door hinges. These are things janitorial services take care of smoothly but regular staff will not consider reasonable to ask of them.
4. Deep Cleaning Never Happens
Then, of course, there’s deep cleaning. Most buildings benefits from a deep and thorough cleaning about twice a year. Scrubbing the walls and baseboards, replacing weather stripping, and steam-cleaning the carpets are among the basic steps of a semi-annual deep cleaning. Staff assigned to keep t heir work spaces clean will not take on this sort of task and eventually the building will get grimy in ways that no one is prepared to handle.
5. Everyone Wants to Get Home
And the final reason why staff janitorial duties always fall short is that everyone just wants to get home. One or two small tasks to keep the work space clean are acceptable, but regular staff simply aren’t going to dedicate themselves to extra cleaning duties. Even those who believe in good cleaning practices are going to rush and put off anything challenging because they just want to pack up and go home at the end of the day.
Asking your staff to keep their work space clean is a great way to promote a pristine facility. But giving your extra duties is no replacement for a professional janitorial team. Your building is much more than a collection of individual work spaces. Take care of your building and improve staff efficiency by relying on experts for your janitorial needs.