The cleaning industry has been adapting fast to the pandemic to ensure every office environment is safe and inspires confidence to returning staff.  This blog looks at how daily office cleaning is adapting to hybrid working.  For more information, please check out our latest white paper.

Changes in office use

The traditional five-day office only working week is unlikely to return.  Most staff have adapted rapidly to the pandemic and have worked productively from home since March 2020.  The change has become the new norm, causing an enormous shift in office use.

Offices however will not disappear and many surveys such as from PWC reveal that one third of organisations believe they will reduce their office footprint by more than 30%.  The same survey showed that 71% of respondents plan to increase investment in technology that enables agile working.

Communication and Collaboration

Offices will become collaborative hubs, used to add value for collaboration and communication.  The aim is to foster and build the team mentality that is vital to a vibrant business. In addition it is essential for younger workers to have access to the office for mentoring and to learn and understand the business and its culture.

Team days

Reducing and changing the office space will mean that different teams might need to be allocated different days to avoid overcrowding. Offices will have to adapt accordingly.  Many are already undergoing refits to radically change the space, making it more flexible for the fluid requirements of hybrid working.

Rethinking Office Cleaning for hybrid working

Office Cleaning has changed dramatically becoming more strategic with targeted areas receiving more frequent attention.  As most cleaning providers have experienced, this has resulted in a re-assessment of every aspect of the cleaning process to ensure absolute clarity for clients. They will have pared every specification down to its constituent elements, task by task, to ensure every aspect is appropriate in this new world.

And of course every site is different.  This means significant planning and tailoring to the cleaning schedules like never before to ensure staff understand and implement new client protocols, taking into consideration use levels, social distancing and office occupancy.

Range of Solutions

Cleaning providers work with a number of approaches to cover every contingency.

  • Daily Cleaning: Using anti-viral products proven to kill coronaviruses and conforming to EN14476.
  • Reactive Cleaning: having mobile teams to quickly respond to suspected or confirmed COVID cases.
  • Preventative Cleaning: installing long lasting surface protection to high frequency touch points such as door handles and push plates, and using products which offer residual protection.

Up-skilling the cleaning team

The enhanced and precise demands resulting from the pandemic carry through to the cleaning requirements for the hybrid office, so high quality and well-trained staff are essential.

COVID training needs to be meaningful including the basics, how to clean and sanitise effectively and how to work within individual office protocols.

Alignment with Facility Manager (FM) teams

Close cooperation between cleaning providers and FM teams is key to deliver a work environment that is safe from COVID.  Implementation can be in a number of ways.

  • Matching the cleaning to office use, reflecting for example team changeover times or busier days. It should also incorporate daily priorities and be adjusted to the new demand, with cleaning schedules updated.
  • Cleaning should reflect client daily priorities and be adjusted when required to prioritise sanitisations. For example on a busy day with more staff in the office, then desk sanitisation prioritises carpet vacuuming.
  • Having sufficient stocks of essential supplies becomes increasing important. This would include for example soap, sanitizer and hand towels.
  • To give confidence to staff, cleaners may undertake more frequent cleaning of kitchens and washrooms and any communal area.
  • There is a wide range of innovative products which can be deployed on client sites to maintain hygiene and cleanliness. Examples include data driven cleaning, antimicrobial surface products with residual protection and robotic cleaning.

TemcoUK Facility Services – keeping workplaces clean

Based in Uxbridge, London, Temco has been delivering professional office cleaning services since 2001, keeping workplaces safe, clean and hygienic.

We are agile and client focused and have adapted our business in the past 18 months to reflect the new requirements of daily commercial office cleaning. We have an excellent record of professionally managing cleaning contracts, and provide a full range of services to cover all client needs.