Beyond Custodial Duties: Taking Care Of Your Office Plants While You're Away
If you're like many employers, you've observed firsthand the way live plants and even small fish can improve the aesthetics of your working environment. From cleaning the air to providing some personality and a pleasant diversion from the often mundane reality of office life, these plants and fish can add a great deal of tangible and intangible value to your business.
However, workplaces that close for holidays or that intermittently shut down production for weeks at a time can present problems for office plants, especially if your custodial staff won't (or can't) take responsibility for caring for these plants and animals. Short of coming into the office on your days off to perform plant-sitting duties, what are your options? Read on to learn more about some of the services available to you.
Cleaning Services
Often, custodial service providers may be contractually prohibited from going beyond their specific scope of duties—usually limited to cleaning certain areas, emptying trash cans, and replenishing supplies like paper towels and toilet paper. For liability reasons, these companies may not want to take on any added responsibility of caring for a living being, even if this responsibility includes only a periodic watering.
However, not all cleaning services subscribe to this strict scope of duties, and you may simply be able to switch providers to one that is willing to take on the additional responsibilities of caring for your office plants and other creatures. You'll likely want to create a document indicating the general locations of each plant you'd like watered, along with any special instructions about the frequency of watering or the desired saturation of the soil.
Plant-Specific Services
If you're not able to find a cleaning service in your area willing to care for both your carpets and your plants, you may instead be able to enlist the help of a company that actually specializes in the care and watering of office plants, such as Environmental Designs. Because the scope of services provided by these vendors is so narrow, you'll find the prices to be reasonable—certainly far less expensive than replacing your office plants and fish (or nursing them back to health) each time you and your staffers take a long weekend off.
Regardless of which option you choose, you should be able to rest assured that your plants will be in good hands, allowing you to enjoy your long weekends or holiday breaks without feeling tethered to your office.