Before 2020, the cleanliness of a bank was in many ways a metaphor. The institutional keeper of anyone’s financial health should maintain exemplary sanitary conditions, so as to present the same discipline to their clients’ physical health.
With COVID-19 bringing a new level of awareness to public health concerns, we have seen a shift in the attention to the sanitation policies of businesses that are open to the public. It isn’t enough for a bank to comply with the increased regulations of federal, state, and municipal governments. In short, a clean bank is no longer a metaphor.
A bank should lead from within, showing its customers how to maintain the highest sanitary standards. Here’s how:
Financial Institution Cleaning: PPE = Less To Clean!
PPE, or Personal Protective Equipment, refers to the plethora of accessories that are most commonly used in medical environments which have now skyrocketed in importance due to COVID-19. Specific to banks, where money and coins are so commonly passed back and forth between employees and customers, several PPE products are relevant.
A bank should require (at the minimum) that all employees and all patrons wear a face cover when inside the premise. Nitrile gloves may be worn by all employees in order to provide a protective layer between handled items. All customer-facing operational procedures should be amended to include before-and-after sanitation measures, where, for example, a teller must spray or wipe communal areas with disinfectant materials. If you need to stock up on gloves and masks for your bank tellers and employees? Place a supply order with Cappstone for gloves, masks, distance signage and more!
Financial Institution Cleaning: Daily Is The New Weekly
The typical weekly janitorial services that are rendered in any major bank are now, and for the foreseeable future, a daily occurrence. From the entryway to the lobby, the teller stations to the offices, and, of course, the break room, the bathroom(s), and storage areas, a bank should increase the frequency of the cleaning and disinfecting of all rooms and surfaces to each day.
This heightened sanitary standard does not come without an obvious cost-benefit analysis. That is, more expenses will need to be budgeted to accommodate new sanitary needs. Start with your own employees. Try swapping 20 to 30 minutes of employee administrative work with cleaning responsibilities. No one will know where to clean better than bank staff. An alternative and sensible option may also be to extend additional financial services to new-era commercial cleaning and sanitation businesses. That’s a win-win!
Financial Institution Cleaning: Get Creative – Incentivize Clean Behavior
Nothing like a good competition for your employees! Draft your bank’s detailed cleaning program, share it with every employee, and reward those who contribute the most to the program through the best sanitary behaviors and habits.
There’s no need to pioneer commercial cleaning. The tools are already there – the bar is just way higher, and banks should assume this responsibility first. If you want to keep your bank clean, equip yourself with all necessary sanitary materials, increase the frequency of routine cleaning, and incentivize your employees to lead – you can take that to the bank!