Did you know dirty restrooms lower employee morale, dissuade customers from doing business with you, and can also cause illnesses? That’s why high quality Houston janitorial services are so important for your facility. Restrooms are notoriously hard to clean without professional training. Maybe that’s why so many public restrooms are so terrifying. In fact, we’re willing to bet you’ve used at least one restroom that was far below what you consider clean. But don’t be afraid! There are solutions to keep your building’s restrooms clean and germ-free!
Why Contract Houston Janitorial Services for Your Work Restroom?
In most larger facilities, the need for a cleaning service is pretty obvious, since there’s so much ground to cover to keep everything clean and sanitary. However, many smaller organizations can also benefit from hiring janitors to keep things clean. This is especially true for their restrooms.
We’ve run into a lot of organizations that use the “chore chart” method to keep their facility clean. Essentially, this is where regular employees perform cleaning duties, usually on a rotating basis. The problem with this is that your employees likely don’t have the training needed to properly clean and disinfect the restroom (as well as other parts of your building). While your staff is likely incredibly smart and professional, are you sure they know exactly which chemicals to use and how to dilute them to properly remove and kill germs like bacteria, viruses, and fungi? To put it simply, this probably isn’t their area of expertise. Debbie from accounting is probably a whiz with numbers, but likely doesn’t have the training to avoid cross-contamination while disinfecting restrooms.
So, why does it matter? Well, dirty, unsanitary restroom facilities are probably harming your business. What’s more, dirty restrooms are some of the top complaints about facilities.
How Your Employees See a Dirty Restroom
Obviously, no one really wants to use a gross restroom. However, you might not realize dirty restrooms could be driving your best employees away. According to one study from Kimberly Clark, 71% of office workers associate the condition of restrooms in a facility with management’s ability. What’s more, a study from Bradley Corporation found that 83% of workers see restrooms as an indicator of how much a company values its employees.
Essentially, how clean you keep your facility’s restrooms shows how much you care about the health and safety of your employees. We all know that restrooms can not only be gross and unpleasant, but also harboring harmful germs that can make us sick. Investing in Houston commercial cleaning for restrooms helps show your staff you don’t want them to get sick or deal with the discomfort of using a dirty restroom. It may just help increase talent retention.
How Visitors See a Dirty Restroom
Just as your employees are judging you by your restrooms, so are any visitors to your facility, like customers, clients, and interviewees. In fact, another survey from Bradley Corporation found that 52% of people were willing to spend more money at places with clean restrooms. What’s more, the same study found that 64% of consumers consciously choose to patronize businesses with cleaner restrooms.
Once again, this probably comes down to a restroom being more than just a place to “do business.” It’s a reflection of how much you care about the people who have to use your facility’s restroom. Many people see it as an indicator of how much you care about general cleanliness and other basic courtesies.
Houston Janitorial Services for Restrooms
Houston janitorial services address a lot of different things in your company’s restrooms. For instance, do they appear clean? Are there harmful germs hiding on surfaces? Is there enough soap, toilet paper, etc. for people to use? Does the restroom function?
Cleaning
Obviously, cleaning is one of the first things you might think of if you’re hiring a janitorial company for your facility. Cleaning involves removing dirt, dust, germs, and other gunk from surfaces in your restroom. This essentially addresses what people can see, like dirt on the floor and soap scum on the sinks.
In addition, improper cleaning can cause cross-contamination, meaning spreading germs from one surface to another. That’s why it’s so important to hire a team that not only has the cleaning products and equipment needed, but also the proper training in cleaning methods.
However, cleaning isn’t the end of the story when it comes to keeping your workplace restroom in good condition.
Disinfection
When you think of cleaning, you might be thinking of cleaning and disinfecting, but these are actually two different steps. After cleaning, we use disinfectant to kill harmful germs. Cleaning can help remove some of the germs on a surface, but disinfectants actually kill them. This is an important part of keeping restrooms sanitary.
Think about this: some common germs you can find on restroom surfaces include Salmonella, E. coli, norovirus, and hepatitis A. This can cause serious disease outbreaks, so disinfection aims to kill them to help prevent people from getting sick.
However, disinfecting surfaces is a pretty involved process. Any misstep and disinfection services might not be as effective. For instance, skipping cleaning before disinfecting may provide a protective layer of grime that disinfectants can’t penetrate. Also, if disinfectants aren’t mixed properly and left on surfaces for a certain period of time (called dwell time), they might not kill the germs on restroom surfaces. So, once again, make sure you choose a trusted cleaning crew dedicated to quality.
Re-Stocking Restroom Supplies
Have you ever run out of toilet paper? What about soap? We take these simple things for granted until they run out unexpectedly. Not only can this be embarrassing for people inside your restrooms, it can also create an unhygienic situation. This reflects very poorly on your facility! Part of Houston janitorial services includes making sure people have the supplies they need. This includes stocking toilet paper rolls, paper towel dispensers, and soap so everyone can take care of their personal hygiene after using the restroom.
General Maintenance
Finally, let’s not forget that restrooms need to function properly! This means getting maintenance for things like toilet clogs, broken door locks, or other malfunctioning equipment in your restroom. Once again, it doesn’t look good if you’re not taking care of these issues promptly. Our team also includes general building maintenance technicians to help provide quick response to these issues, whether you notice it in the middle of the day or our crew detects the issue while cleaning.
My Employees Make the Restrooms Messy!
So, we’ve talked a lot about how employees perceive messy restrooms, but what if your employees are the ones making it dirty? Obviously every restroom is going to get dirty over time, which is why you need regular Houston janitorial services. However, what if you’re noticing your facility’s restrooms look atrocious between nightly cleanings?
First, make sure you’re getting cleaning services frequently enough. It’s pretty normal for large facilities to need spot cleaning and restocking in their restrooms a few times a day. In this instance, we might recommend day porter services to help.
However, if your restrooms are suddenly messier than they ever have been, it may be an issue to address with your team. We’d all like to think everyone knows it’s their responsibility to clean up after themselves, but sometimes people need a reminder, whether through signs on the restroom doors, through email, or otherwise.
In some cases, it may even be an issue with a disgruntled employee. If you’re having issues with bathroom etiquette at the office, that’s no excuse to cut back on cleaning, as it’s probably a small minority of people causing the issue. Also, punishing people by leaving your restrooms gross is a great way to increase sickness and absenteeism in your workplace.
First, determine if your facility could benefit from more frequent professional cleaning. Also, make your expectations clear for your employees to clean up after themselves. In addition, keep cleaning supplies accessible so no one has to make the walk of shame to ask for some should they accidentally make a mess. For bigger problems with a specific employee, you might even need to have your HR department address the issue.
Houston Commercial Cleaning Experts at Accredited Building Services
Looking for cost-effective Houston commercial cleaning services near you? Our team at Accredited Building Services is here to help! We’ve been providing high quality cleaning services since 1980. We’ve helped clean countless facilities throughout the Greater Houston and Beaumont area. We treat your facility as if it’s our own, so you know you’ll get the highest quality standards from our services. Give us a call at (281) 578-2296 to get a quote and get started today!
