Every company should strive to maximize productivity through whatever means possible, and one of the easiest ways to achieve that is by maintaining a clean and tidy working environment. On the face of it, the link between a clean office and a high standard of output might not seem obvious but think of how a polluted working space could lead to illnesses, or how an untidy desk could make it time-consuming to find documents which should be filed away neatly.
A team of researchers at Harvard University conducted an interesting experiment which involved students being given an impossible puzzle to solve. The group was divided into two, one going to a tidy space to attempt the puzzle and the other occupying a space with cluttered desks and litter. The average time spent by the former group in attempting the puzzle was significantly longer than the latter, indicating that untidy workplaces undermine people’s ability to persevere with difficult tasks.
An untidy office is costing you time and money
It’s no exaggeration to say that the cleanliness of a workspace can save or cost a company millions of dollars. A study from the International Data Corporation found that an untidy office can cost a company approximately $2.5 million every year due to lost productivity arising from time spent on looking for documents that ought to have been filed in an organized system. This figure may or may not also account for possible lulls in productivity owing to demotivation from coming into an untidy workplace every day.
Cleanliness is also the cause of absenteeism. Unclean surfaces are a good host for viruses that can linger on work desks and equipment for 24 hours. The average employee loses 9 working days per year to sickness, which may be attributed to bad workplace hygiene.
Increase focus and decrease the risk of illness
A clean work environment will:
- Increase focus
- Leaves more time to do actual work
- Reduces stress
- Improves profitability
- Reduces absenteeism
- Improves morale
Setting aside a small bit of time each week, or even each month, to perform simple cleaning tasks in the office can save a lot of time going forward, so it’s well worth making a continued effort to preserve the cleanliness and tidiness of your working environment. You can find out how best to approach this in the infographic below from Cleaning Services Group.
