Cleaning Up

ray a

Recently, we spent $700 getting the parking lot swept on the weekend to remove all the debris. Within a few days it is beginning to look a mess mostly from cigarette butts, but people tend to just throw their garbage on the ground rather than take the time to put it in the trash can. We do pride ourselves with having a clean facility, at least inside, and many customers have commented favorably. The one area inside that tends to get messy though is the cafeteria. Again, people just leave their leftover garbage on the tables assuming someone else will clean up after them even though it is a short walk to the trash container. I have been tasked with essentially changing people's habits. (I'd hate to see some of their homes) What's running through my mind is some kind of a program or campaign that addresses cleanliness and common decency. Posters, rewards, speeches, even threats of doing butt patrol. Whatever. Any ideas? Have any of you done something similar?

deniseE

We did put those little triangle cards on the cafe tables...reminding them that it was not a resturant and that they must clean up after themselves.

We placed butt receptacles in our parking areas and advised ee's that if the butt problem continued that we would ban smoking from all property.

marc

Start a "Charity Jar" in the cafeteria. Anyone witnessing another EE leaving a mess can "bust" them on it. When busted, the perpetrator must put $1 in the jar.

Rockie

I think this happens just about everywhere. I have seen those funny signs "Your mother doesn't work here!" in some facilities.

We have several kitchen areas in our facility and I avoid most of them like the plague. If the people who use those areas don't mind eating in a pig pen, then so be it. Our admin kitchen is very small and only a few people use it. I usually police it in the evenings (empty coffee pots, etc.) largely because I am the first one here in the morning and I don't want to face a mess!


Not sure what the solution is unless you just assign a different group each day to clean the tables up. When they get tired of cleaning the mess up, they may realize it only takes a few minutes to pick up after themselves.

NaeNae55

We have a small office with one break room. On the refridgerator is a list of employees with a weekly date next to each of them. above the list is the requirements of 'kitchen duty.' We all take a turn, even those of us who do not take breaks there or use the fridge.

Each day you must wipe off tables, rinse out the coffee pots, and clean the counters. On Fridays the microwave gets cleaned, and so does the fridge. If anyone leaves anything in the fridge on Friday without their name on it, the item, including the container, is to go into the trash. A few people have lost nice storage containers this way, but they don't usually forget a 2nd time. Finally, you must take home the used cloth towels, wash them, and bring them back on Monday. (I don't believe our hourly employees actually do this, but no one ever comments about it.)

This keeps the room clean and acceptable for others. If we had more employees and a larger break room, we would assign more people every week to keep it clean.

When it is your week to clean and someone is being a pig most employees will speak up and tell them to knock it off. We haven't had a problem with a dirty kitchen in several years. In fact, most employees will make a point not to leave a dirty dish in the sink for the duty employee to clean. Fortunately, we have a great bunch of employees who value each other and the company they work for.

HRLASS

I worked in an office with a similar procedure, but with some unique rules. Every employee was assigned kitchen duty on a rotating basis, with the exception of the owners of the business. The duties were set for evening - to empty and wash out coffee pots and set up coffee for the next morning, wipe tables and counters, put all dirty dishes in dishwasher (if yours aren't dishwasher safe, you had better have removed them!), and clean sinks. The distinction I found particularly unique and highly commendable was that if a supervisor (including business owner) requested special last minute late work from the employee up for duty, the supervisor or business owner took over the duties themselves while the employee did the late rush work. The break room was right outside my office and I know I saw the owner with his tie over his shoulder doing dishes and making coffee several times. That example did much to make sure that no one missed a shift - if the owner covers, you better too!

Crout

You could always ban the use of all tobacco products on company property. Then the smokers would have to get away from the parking lot.