Did you know that viruses can linger on telephones and keyboards in your office for 24 hours? I know, sounds pretty disgusting doesn’t it? An unhygienic office can be a direct link between staff illness with at least some of the nine days a year that an average employee loses due to sickness.
Decluttering your office and tidying up your desk means that the cleaner is able to target these areas and make sure that they are cleaning the surfaces that provide a space for bugs and viruses to linger. Not only does this make for a healthier office but it is known to boost productivity amongst staff.
Harvard University carried out a study of students working in environments of varying levels of clutter. The study showed that clutter free workspaces improved a student’s performance by 7.5 minutes – that means that the students were able to work for longer without distraction. Therefore, clean offices lead to increased levels of focus as there is less time wasted searching for documents. The International Data Corporation notes that businesses lose around $2.5 million in lack of productivity due to lost documents.
The good news about this is that workers waste less time in a clean office and are also less stressed – why wouldn’t you invest in a good protocol of tidying your desk and decluttering your office and making the space easier to clean by your cleaners. After all, cleaners are human too!