How to Write a Memo to Staff About Kitchen Cleanliness

We're not human resources experts, but one thing we do know is that keeping the common area in a workplace clean is very important to morale. The kitchen, of all places, is one of the spots in the office that is visible to all and can leave an eye-sore if not maintained by employees for the small clean-ups.Don't wait for your janitorial company for minor clean-ups during the day, employees should take control to leave their kitchen looking clean throughout the day. Leave the deep-cleaning to janitorial professional after-hours.So if a dirty kitchen becomes a regular problem in your organization, what is the right approach for a business manager to take when addressing the issue?One method is to send a memo out to all employees. When writing a memo, keep the following in mind:- Keep it short and sweet. A long and drawn out memo could lose its affect on employees. Get to the point and as fast as possible.- Address why uncleanliness is a problem for the organization. Is an unclean kitchen area a problem due to morale, a decrease in productivity, or from playing the blame game? Be prepared to have supporting arguments in the memo.- In a company-wide memo don't call out specific people. If there is a problem with one or a few people, have one on one meetings with them rather than embarrass them in public.- Remind employees to clean up after themselves. If everyone takes responsibility of their own actions there shouldn't be a problem. In taking individual action, employees shouldn't have to pick up someone else's mess.Besides memos, there are many other methods of communicating, including company newsletters, blogs, paycheck stuffers, one on one meetings between manager and employee, all-hands meetings and many others.For more information on kitchen cleaning or office cleaning, contact Myles O'Donnell & Co.photo credit: Geoff LMV via photo pin cc