If we learnt a single lesson from the past two years, there’s a strong chance that it would be about the importance of cleaning. Keeping the office clean is absolutely essential when it comes to the well-being of your employees, but the benefits extend beyond that.
2026 Update: What Has Changed Since We First Published This
I wrote this post back in 2023 and, honestly, quite a bit has shifted since then. If you are running a business and making decisions about office cleaning right now, some of what I said originally still holds up, but there are a few things worth revisiting before you act on any of it.
The biggest change I have noticed is how many cleaning companies have started using AI-driven scheduling software to manage their rounds. Tools like this were barely a talking point in 2023 and now they are pretty standard in any mid-to-large cleaning contract. What this means for you as a business owner is that you have more room to negotiate flexible, needs-based scheduling rather than accepting a fixed five-days-a-week contract. Push for it. If your office is hybrid and half your desks are empty on Mondays and Fridays, you should not be paying for a full clean on those days.
Post-pandemic hygiene standards have also quietly been downgraded in a lot of workplaces, which I think is a mistake. The focus on touch-point cleaning, air quality, and antibacterial surface protocols that became normal in 2021 and 2022 was actually good practice, full stop. My honest advice is to keep those standards written into your cleaning contract even if your provider tries to talk you out of it as “unnecessary overhead.” It is not unnecessary, it is just less fashionable now.
On the cost side, cleaning contracts in the UK have gone up in price over the last couple of years, largely because of increases to the National Living Wage. That is fair and right, but it does mean you need to budget differently to how you might have in 2023. Get at least three quotes, compare them line by line rather than just looking at the headline figure, and ask every provider exactly what is and is not included. The variation in what companies call a “standard clean” is genuinely surprising.
Finally, sustainability has moved from being a nice-to-have to something staff and clients are actually noticing and asking about. Cleaning product choices, water usage, packaging waste from supplies – these things matter more now. Ask your cleaning company for a clear statement of their environmental approach before you sign anything. If they cannot give you one, that tells you something.
Keeping a clean office is important for so many reasons besides this, from boosting employee productivity and improving retention rates, to maintaining a space that you’d want to have associated with your brand. With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about office cleaning in 2023.
Improve productivity
With the increasing number of stress factors that each of us is having to face at the moment, you want to provide your employees with an environment that enables them to work at their absolute best.
Research shows that people work better in clean, tidy environments. Clutter is a distraction for everyone, even the most skilled employees; with profit margins growing smaller in a lot of businesses, it’s important that everyone is operating at the peak of their abilities. Keeping your office clean is a key element of that.
Keep sick leave to a minimum
Not only can a clean office improve the productivity levels of employees, but it can also help ensure that they’re able to be in the office as consistently as possible. Working in a cluttered, unsanitary environment increases the risk of illness and disease in the workplace, which can in turn result in unnecessary time off.
A clean, organized workspace fosters a healthier, more focused environment, reducing sick days and promoting employee well-being. According to a study by the ISSA, a clean office can improve productivity by up to 12%. Cleaning companies such as UrbanMop and The Maids can tailor services based on specific office needs, eliminating unnecessary tasks, focusing on high-traffic areas, and optimizing resource allocation. Regular cleaning prevents the buildup of dirt and grime, reducing the need for costly deep cleaning or repairs in the long run.
Prolonged exposure to stress, which can be brought about by working in a chaotic environment, can also result in sick leave. Keeping the office as clean and tidy as possible can help to avoid this, while also helping to ensure that slips, trips and falls are kept to a minimum.
A space you can be proud of
While a lot of meetings take place online these days, it’s still highly likely that you’ll be welcoming business partners and clients into your office in 2023. It’s incredibly important that your office space provides the right impressions to visitors when you have them around.
Cleaning your office on a daily basis plays an essential role in this. Especially when it comes to communal areas, like meeting rooms, hallways and bathrooms, you want every detail to be sparkling at each moment in the day.
Get the professionals in
If you didn’t know it already, having your own employees clean the office on a rota is a waste of time, money and resources. With tasks like cleaning, it’s important to outsource to professionals in 2023.
They’ll come in fresh, with the right tools and knowledge for the task, and be able to do a far better job than a non-specialist, in a fraction of the time.
As you can see, office cleaning should be more than an afterthought. It plays a central role in the successful operation of your business in multiple areas – don’t let it slide, and look to a professional, commercial office cleaning company to outsource your office cleaning requirements to.
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Related reading: Reasons To Hire a Professional Office Cleaning Service and Managing High-Traffic Commercial Spaces: Cleaning Challenges Every Business Faces.
