Workplace Restrooms Matter: How Upgraded Facilities Boost Employee Morale

You know what it’s like to walk into a nasty bathroom. You try not to breathe or touch any surface. Once you get through the exit, you take a sigh of relief. But what if you had to use that bathroom multiple times a day for work? A bad workplace restroom is a nightmare lying in wait. It can lower productivity and even cause employees to look for work elsewhere. Here are a few reasons to consider bathroom upgrades as part of your facility update plans.

Workers need clean hygiene spaces

Pretty much everyone needs to use a workplace bathroom on occasion, but some avoid it as much as they can. One survey showed that about one in 10 workers just don’t use the restroom facilities at work, due to concerns about cleanliness. Others who use the restroom regularly may be less likely to wash their hands if the room is dirty, the soap is always out, or they have to fight a crowd to get to the sink. Needing to relieve yourself is a biological fact that people can’t just ignore. They need clean spaces to take care of it while they’re on a shift.

Outdated bathrooms are harder to maintain

While it’s possible to keep a bathroom of any vintage in sparkling clean condition, the work does increase as the facilities age. Frequent use of faucets and fixtures can cause damage that leads to leaks, dirt accumulation, staining, and other unsightly problems. Outdated designs (such as the use of small tiles with white grout) are more likely to show wear and dirt, making the room look and feel dirty even if it’s not. If you had to choose between washing your hands in a new sink or one with a number of patched cracks, it’s pretty easy to determine which way most people would go.

Benefits of Updating Restroom Facilities

Fortunately, there’s plenty you can do to address this issue for your facility and your employees. A bathroom remodel can decrease bottlenecks in bathroom use and provide other benefits.

Employees feel less stress

Workers who don’t feel comfortable using the bathroom are going to feel physically uncomfortable when they don’t. There’s a reason that not being able to find a bathroom is such a common theme for nightmares. Employees who can take a break and relieve themselves whenever they need to may feel less stress as a result. They can count on the facilities to provide space to perform hygiene tasks, including washing their hands thoroughly.

Work productivity increases

Those employees who won’t use a nasty bathroom no matter what? They are spending their lunch breaks searching out other locations where they can go and possibly getting back to work late. Ensuring the facilities at work are ready for use can decrease the amount of time employees spend handling hygiene tasks, so that they can get back to work with fewer hassles and distractions.

Employee retention improves

Employees need to feel valued in order to want to stay with the company. A survey showed that about nine in 10 workers think that the condition of a workplace restroom reflects what the company thinks of them. So, what does your restroom say about you? A clean, well-stocked, stylish facility says that you care about your employees and you want them to stay with the company. If you hope to save the money and hassle of having to hire and train new employees, it’s an investment worth making.

Keeping a workplace restroom clean is a matter of course. Although regular maintenance is key to providing adequate hygiene spaces for workers, making sure the restroom is functional and comfortable for employees may require a little more work. Factoring in these benefits of workplace bathroom upgrades can help to provide a stronger return on investment for this important facility.

Author bio: Davis Glassberg is the Product Manager at Bath Concepts, which transforms bathrooms into spa-like, dream retreats. Glassberg is in charge of training and developing innovative new products for the bath industry. Glassberg has been actively involved in acrylic bathroom remodeling for over three decades. During that period, he has designed over 40,000 bathrooms and trained more than 10,000 design consultants across the U.S.