Staff who have returned to the office may have higher expectations of office cleanliness and to ignore this means that employers could miss out on attracting talent.
• Employees have higher expectations of office cleanliness.
• More companies are facing recruitment and retention challenges.
• Cleaner offices may attract a wider talent pool for employers.
Not so long ago, most office workers probably didn’t give too much thought to how well cleaned their workplace was. So long as washrooms and carpets were clean, and bins emptied, people were unlikely to think too much about it.
Thankfully, the events of the last few years are starting to fade, and people are returning to the office to work. This time, however, workers are more attuned to hygiene and cleanliness practices which means that they are increasingly aware of how clean their workplace is and more enlightened as to how clean it should be.
So, what in particular are returning office workers’ concerns?
It seems that workers are understandably more aware now of the existence of viruses such as flu and covid-19, and the potential threat they pose. This can make them less willing to accept workspaces that are simply visibly clean as they may have done in the past, and more demanding of the reassurance provided by deep cleaning.
As many companies are dealing with staff recruitment and retention challenges, reassuringly high levels of office cleanliness could be seen as a valuable incentive to maintain employee loyalty or attract new talent.
The Harvard Business Review reported that according to the research firm Gartner, US staff turnover was forecast to rise by around 20% in 2022 compared with the average prior to the pandemic, while KPMG reported that over 30% of US workers were seriously considering a workplace move.
In a competitive environment, not accommodating workers’ newly heightened expectations for office hygiene could have a significant effect on staff recruitment and retention as companies may inadvertently limit the talent pool willing to be available to them.
Put simply, if workers are not reassured by the cleanliness and safety of their working environment, they may choose to leave for a workplace that does satisfy their concerns. Likewise, potential new recruits may be put off starting a job in an environment that doesn’t satisfy their expectations of cleanliness and hygiene, limiting the talent available to the business.
Using a specialist cleaning and surfaces maintenance organisation which offers a full range of infection control measures in addition to professional commercial cleaning means that employees can be reassured, and employers can hope to optimise their staff recruitment and retention.
