Life at work can be difficult when our fellow employees are always making the communal areas like the kitchen, the changing room, the coffee area dirty. A dirty communal area can communicate loads of bad things about the organisation or the employees of that work in that place. Most employees do it because they might be feeling there is somebody meant to keep the place clean. Working a place with a messy coffee area can be less motivating. There is a number of ways to ensure your work area is always clean as follows:
Hire a team for the job
The reason a given communal work area is clean can be because people are on tight schedules. People having to meet deadlines does not mean your workplace remains messy. Outsource a communal cleaning services firm to handle the cleaning; you can also employ a number of people to do the same if you are able to pay for their services.
The communal cleaning policy
Enlighten your employees about the importance of communal cleaning. People working for you need to know about keeping the communal areas is just like caring for a colleague who performs poorly in an untidy communal area. The policy should state out where to dispose clutter or rubbish, dry cleaning kitchen surfaces after cleaning, clearing the microwave after use(leaving it open for some time before closing it) and caring for the fridge shelves.
Have a Duty Rota
Each employee needs to take up communal cleaning responsibilities in their section or department. Yesterday Peter did it, let Mary do it tomorrow. This way an employee knows that messing the communal area is equal to cleaning up thereafter. Employees learning to care for their workplace is a step toward the organisation’s success.
Motivate employees
With the guidelines set your employees to need to stick to them. Keep up the spirit by appreciating their communal cleaning services. Treat them out to lunch. They need to know having their communal area clean is very important to you and to them. Let them know you can go to the level of being grateful for their change in act and course.
The communal cleaning culture
Every year organizations throw parties. This has become a norm for them. A budget is given to that course. Instilling a culture of communal cleaning is very important. Encourage your employees to treat their work the way they would want it to be treated. Let the thinking be in them that they can take up responsibility whenever they see a mess in the communal areas.
Buy communal cleaning equipment
An employee could be asking himself or herself if they need to come with their own cleaning kits. It is your duty as the employer to ensure that these employees have what they need to keep their communal workplaces clean. Have table clothes, dustbins, wipes; soap anything else that can be used to make the work area clean always. This way when a person spills a meal in the kitchen or fridge or microwave they can wipe the places clean.
