MAKE CLEANLINESS A PRIORITY IN 2023
Is Cleanliness On Your List Of Priorities?
As a business owner, you know that you need to prioritize in order to succeed. In particular, you need to prioritize your limited resources to generate maximum profits. For most businesses, money is the most limited resource and it must be spent in ways that maximize income.
Generally speaking, most companies prioritize their expenditures based on a perceived return on investment. Things like marketing, productivity enhancing tools and technology, recruitment, training, and retention of employees, and customer service initiatives are often where the bulk of the money is spent.
While these are all tried and true methods for generating business income, there is another list item that many companies overlook – and it is costing them in more ways than they realize. Interestingly, the missing item invariably contributes to the return on investment realized from nearly every other priority on the list.
What Is Missing From Your List Of Business Priorities?
In a word – cleanliness.
Good old-fashioned cleanliness is the one item that most businesses do not place on their list of priorities and it is the one item that directly impacts nearly every other item on their list of priorities. Let’s take a look at how cleanliness impacts the other priorities on your list:
How Cleanliness Impacts Marketing
Even before the pandemic of recent years came into play, studies showed that cleanliness was an important consideration for consumers. A new awareness and higher standards of cleanliness emerged from the pandemic and businesses that failed to make cleanliness a priority began losing customers.
By making cleanliness a priority businesses can add another arrow to their marketing quiver. Smart businesses are using upgraded cleaning protocols to attract new customers and retain existing ones. Employing on-site day porters or asking employees to clean high-touch surfaces throughout the business day allows customers to see your business’s commitment to providing a clean and safe environment.
How Cleanliness Impacts Recruitment And Retention Of Staff
Like the customers that your business serves, the staff that your business employs are hyper-aware of cleanliness. They want to work in a safe and clean environment. In fact, studies show that 72% of employees are reluctant to recommend a business with poor office hygiene to job seekers and 70% of employees feel that poor office hygiene genuinely affects their overall job satisfaction. As many as 71% of employees expect their employer to provide extra cleaning to ensure hygiene.
How Cleanliness Enhances Productivity
Businesses spend a lot of money on tools and technology in an effort to enhance productivity. In general, this is money well spent as these tools and technologies often make employees more efficient. Research shows that adding cleanliness to this equation promotes even greater productivity.
In a clean and organized work environment employees are healthier, less stressed, and better able to focus on their work. According to data collected by the International Data Corporation, untidy workplaces lose an estimated $2.5 million dollars per year due to lost productivity.
It should also be noted that unclean conditions promote the spread of harmful bacteria, resulting in increased sick days for employees. One study found that employees missing work due to illness or injury cost employers $225 billion annually.
Cleaning Is Customer Service
Believe it or not, customers equate cleanliness with your level of customer service. Providing a visibly clean and safe environment for your customers is a service that you must provide if you are serious about customer service. 99% of U.S. customers recently surveyed said they would not return to a business if it had poor hygiene and levels of cleanliness. Ninety-nine percent!
Providing a clean and safe environment with visible cleaning and sanitizing protocols shows customers that you take their heath and safety seriously. It shows that you are conscientious of your employees health and safety as well and ensures a good first impression for your business.
Make Cleaning A Priority In 2023
It is rather amazing how a simple thing like cleanliness can impact almost every aspect of your business. When you are making a list of priorities for the new year, or setting your annual budget, be sure to add cleaning and sanitation to the top of your list. Consider hiring a commercial cleaning company to take your cleaning to the next level. After all, it will impact every other line item on the list.
