Now that we left 2020 behind, we can understand how important it is to have a clean business and respect safety measures. Even though during the last months, tech trends took over because the pandemic forced all businesses to use technology to power their operations, as 2021 came and employees returned to their offices, the focus switched to cleaning and safety trends. Organisations want to know what they can do to be prepared to welcome their workers back to their headquarters. How can they keep them safe and healthy?
Who would have thought that 2020 will change the business world in such a way? Managing virus outbreaks was off the radar after the H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic and Hepatitis A multi-state outbreak, and no one thought that the world would face another pandemic so soon. But COVID-19 quickly spread around the world, obliging companies to send their employees home. 2020 threw the cleaning industry into the spotlight and showed how essential it is. Facility managers have to adapt to the new trends and find a cleaning and maintenance program that allows them to protect their clients and workers from catching the virus. The adoption of cleaning technology and cleaning programs skyrocketed since employees have started to come back to their offices. Organisations try to get their hands on a limited supply of disinfectants, cleaning equipment, and sanitizers.
If you’re planning to ask your employees to work from their offices again, you should make sure that your facility is a healthy and clean environment where they feel safe.
Ways to ensure your business is successful, clean, and healthy
Provide your employees with protective equipment
A Gallup Poll reveals that 58% of the workers who returned to their workplaces in 2021 use personal protective equipment, and organisations worldwide are looking for ways to make their employees feel safe at their offices. We witness companies worldwide implementing new programs and precautions to prevent the virus from spreading and providing their employees with a safe work environment. Companies are doing their best to ensure the undue health risks to their workers are minimised.
If you want to stay competitive and boost your success in 2021, consider adopting rigorous cleanliness, healthy, and safety measures.
Develop comprehensive and coherent COVId-19 policies
Organisations should develop a comprehensive and coherent coronavirus policy to maintain their workers’ safety. It’s essential to stay on the same page with the local and national authorities to make sure that they take the best measures for protecting their clients and employees. However, with the everchanging national and local regulations, some employers may find it challenging to take the responses in their own hands.
If you want to maintain the competitive edge your company has on the market, you need to properly create rules and set expectations regarding potential virus exposure in the following months. Research shows that most organisations that called their employees back to the office have already implemented detailed measures on how to effectively clean and maintain their properties. They’re collaborating with companies specialised in commercial cleaning that provide services like scs help desk to create cleaning plans for 2021.
Rethink your interior design and workplace layout
As your workers are adapting to working from the office again, they may find it challenging to respect social distancing measures and keep a 6-foot distance from other workers. As a business manager, you need to ask yourself what you must change and how you can adapt your headquarters to respect the new norms of working during the coronavirus pandemic. In case you don’t have enough space to welcome back all your employees safely, you should consider who you want to call back.
Your facility may have an open floor plan that isn’t the best solution for stopping virus spread, and you have to rethink and remodel it, to power safety and health measures. Install separators between offices and enclose the spaces where possible to make your workers feel safe at their workstations.
Cleaning trends to expect in 2021
It would help if you were up to date with the latest trends to get your business ready for welcoming back your employees and power its success in these challenging times.
Expect to deal with continued supply chain disruptions
As a large number of organisations are reopening their headquarters, there’s a huge demand for disinfectants, PPE, hand sanitizers, and cleaning products that allow you to make the work environment safe for employees and visitors. This trend will likely extend into the following months until countries are able to contain and reduce the number of positive cases they register. The shortage of these essential supplies may influence your reopening plans, so ensure you have a well-established stock before you ask your workers to come back to the office.
The company’s ability to manage an outbreak can impact its reopening
As organisations start to reopen their headquarters, managers need to create schematic plans and communicate them to their workers. It must include the conditional steps and strategic adaptations based on already met variables and expected challenges. Businesses need to improve their ventilation and indoor air quality, and embrace green cleaning to cut down the VOCs and increase their workers’ health.
Employee training is more important than ever
One of the most important trends to follow in 2021 is the need for qualified cleaning experts in any commercial space. Suppose you don’t collaborate with a professional company specialised in commercial cleaning, and prefer to have in-house employees handling these tasks. In that case, you need to train them to ensure they know how to clean and maintain the spaces according to COVID-19 measures. The definition of qualified cleaning workers has changed a little since the pandemic surge, and now you need to ensure that your workers are knowledgeable on the rules they have to follow and measures they must take. Training can help you provide them with the needed information to ensure they maintain the space properly.
Final thoughts
As your business continues to adjust to the new reality, the surest path to success is to truly care about your employees and customers and keep them safe.
