Cleaning Up the Office
Published on Thursday, 11 October 2012

1. Of course, the first thing to do when your company or department moves into a new office, is to hire the right cleaning service. If you're in the same city and general area as before, this could be as easy as renegotiating the terms of your contract with the cleaners you've used so far for the new office. If, however, you are just starting your business or moving to an entire new location, then you will need to look for a new company. A good rule of thumb in this case is to eliminate off the bat any companies that do not market their services as mainly corporate cleaning. It is good to go for the bigger, more established cleaning companies, because this way it will be much easier to research their reputation online and through other businesses. Talk with multiple cleaners, get estimates and offers and only then begin the decision process.
2. Hiring the right cleaner is only half the job, though. Your main responsibility here is to encourage an attitude of cleanliness and sustainability in your employees. Businesses, and especially big businesses have a much higher impact on pollution and carbon emissions than regular households do. As such, it is your responsibility to keep your business environmentally conscious. There are many ways to do this.
• Firstly, establish a recycling routine for the office. Talk to local recycling banks about arranging some sort of partnership. This way, you can both benefit from the arrangement. Often times, you may even get monetary compensation for larger loads of recyclables, so ask around.
• Talk to the manufacturer of your office equipment and inquire about their recycling policy. Normally, companies will happily take products to be recycled, and you may even get some monetary compensation for it. If this isn't the case, however, you can always inquire at your local recycling plant or institution.
• Set targets and rewards for your employees' efforts to be more environmentally conscious. For example, throw an office party for every large goal that the office fulfills.
3. Assign someone to monitor the extra things, such as the regular watering of plants and the organization of the supply closet. Depending on the tasks, you may want to pay this person a little more than the rest of your team.
4. Lastly, encourage cleanliness and organization among your employees, such as cleaning up desks, reporting faults early, cleaning the kitchenette after use, etc.. Make sure to use positive reinforcement for this. Reward skills, instead of punishing problems. By doing this, your employees will respect you more and will willingly do their part in cleaning up the office.
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