People may roll their eyes and employees may shrug it off as another rule they need to follow; however, a CDP or Clean Desk Policy can impact the health, productivity, and safety of employees.

A CDP is a corporate directive that specifies how employees should clean their workspace before leaving. Although implementation depends on the prerogative of the company and its management, a clean desk policy comes with a lot of direct and indirect benefits.

That said, here are five advantages of implementing CDP in the office:

1. Compliance With Data Protection

Nowadays, companies implement CDP in compliance with information security regulations like ISO 27001 and the Data Protection Act. These regulations require businesses to secure personal information.

According to Lynn Brown, “A Clean Desk Policy protects confidential information from being seen and take by insider fraudsters and other criminals in the office. That reduces the risk of information theft, fraud, and a security breach.”

For instance, you manage a private lending company wherein your employees check for client information and store credit card or banking details.

Without a CDP, there is a chance that one of your employees can lose a customer’s credit card details. This also makes your company susceptible to embezzlement. Not to mention that you are putting your clients’ information at risk of fraud and data breach.

Simply put, implementing CDP helps everyone in the company to secure client data, as well as comply with data privacy regulations.

2. Create a Good Impression

When the nature of your business enables you to receive visits from clients, all the more you need to implement a Clean Desk Policy.

At Maid Sailors Office Cleaning Service NYC, we believe that a clean and tidy office creates a positive first impression. And this is important in building a positive relationship among colleagues, stakeholders, customers, and clients.

Cluttered and untidy desks can damage how company visitors view your business. Customers and clients will deem that you have disorganized processes; thus, you are inefficient. This could lead them from not striking any partnership or business transaction with you.

Aside from loss of a potential customer or client, this could negatively affect your business’ revenue.

That said, it is important that you implement a CDP in the office. Moreover, you should also explain its effects on your business. That way, your employees will not feel that you are just giving them another task. Instead, they will feel that they have a contribution to the success of the business.

3. Boosts Employee Productivity

Aside from creating a good first impression, a Clean Desk Policy can help boost your employees’ productivity.

In fact, research conducted by Mirte Horrevorts, Johan Van Ophem, and Paul Terpstra revealed that there is a strong correlation between “objective cleanliness” and the perceived productivity of office employees for non-profit organizations in The Netherlands.

Moreover, the study reveals cleanliness of the work environment affects the employee’s satisfaction level. And when he is satisfied at work, the higher his perceived productivity will be.

Aside from improving an employee’s productivity, a clean desk allows him to be efficient. When there is less clutter, an employee can easily find whatever he needs ‒ be it an important document or a piece of a paper clip.

When you implement CDP in the office, you are requiring your employees to clean their desks at the end of the workday. This might look like grunt work; however, they are actually prepping themselves for tomorrow’s satisfying and productive day.

4. Reduces Employees’ Stress

Aside from being productive, satisfied, and efficient at work, implementing a Clean Desk Policy allows you to reduce the stressful stimuli among your employees.

Here’s the thing: It is difficult to focus at work or finish a task at hand when a workspace is cluttered. And this could contribute to an increase in work-related stress.

And you know how stress is bad for your health, right? Not to mention that too much stress can lead to unhealthy employees. And when your employees are not healthy, you could notice that absenteeism occurs often. This could have a negative impact on your company’s bottom line.

When you implement a Clean Desk Policy, you are reducing the causes of stress among your employees. Thus, you are preventing negative things from happening in your company.

5. Improves Employees’ Health and Wellness

As mentioned earlier, implementing a Clean Desk Policy in the office reduces the causes of stress among employees. Thus, it is one step to improve their health and wellness.

Nonetheless, you should emphasize the impact of a clean desk to your employees’ health. In case you do not know, a study revealed that an office desk contains 400 times more germs than a toilet seat.

Good thing, there are effective ways on how you can keep the office clean to improve your employees’ wellness. Keep in mind that cleanliness is your best defense against ill-causing germs and bacteria.

Aside from the reasons stated above, you should also take note that in order for CDP implementation to be effective, it should be in black-and-white. It should have clear instructions as to what actions your employees should take. After all, they are mostly responsible for keeping their desks clean and organized.