Being Fussy with those who are Messy

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• Being Fussy with those who are Messy

23 January 2015 | Updated 01 January 1970

Offices that cut corners on cleaning, or allow employees to work in messy, disorganised surroundings can be ‘up to 72% less productive’ than clean, well-ordered ones, according to a survey undertaken by a national cleaning company.

The national Contract Cleaning company says that people employed in offices with a low emphasis on a clean working environment spend less time in the workplace and do not work as hard when they do sit at their desks.

In a survey of 100 offices in the UK, the Yorkshire-based company found that workplace productivity plummeted where there are overflowing bins, dirty toilets and a lack of organisation.

ContractCleaning.co.uk asked over 1,500 workers in 300 offices whether they thought their workplace was clean or dirty, and whether this contributed to their efficiency and enthusiasm for their jobs. In offices where staff thought that their place of work cut corners on cleaning:

• 72% said their surroundings made them less productive.
• 46% said they took longer lunch breaks and spent less time in the office.
• 25% said they took sick leave because the surroundings depressed them.
• 65% said they looked forward to coming into a clean office in the morning.
• 49% thought that they worked harder as a result of a better organised office.
• 26% said they took shorter breaks or spent lunch breaks at their desk.

The survey found that offices with regular cleaners, kitchen facilities, regularly serviced toilets and well-organised ways of working, saw both productivity and attendance ‘soaring’.

“Dirty, disorganised offices are the scourge of productivity,” said Mark Hall, ContractCleaning.co.uk. “Some bosses need to take a good, hard look at their places of work and ask themselves why their staff are so miserable. It’s clear – dirty and disorganised offices hit businesses where it hurts the most. “Productivity slips, absenteeism soars and that has a negative effect of profits.”

Picture: Dirty offices can lead to substantial drops in productivity and increases in absenteeism.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis | Published 23 January 2015

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