Want To Know If Employer Values Workforce? Look In the Bathroom

MENOMONEE FALLS, WI — How can a prospective employee learn how a company values its workforce? According to one study: look in the bathroom.

According to the Healthy Hand Washing Survey by Bradley Corporation 89 percent of Americans believe the condition of a workplace restroom is one indicator of how a company values its workforce. And, even though 67 percent of workers rank their restrooms as excellent or very good, that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.

The requests make sense since nearly half say they've experienced issues with their workplace restrooms that a little deodorizer or automatic fixtures could address. The top complaints uncovered by the survey are unpleasant smells, clogged or unflushed toilets and empty or jammed toilet paper dispensers.

The survey stated that workers would like to have more touchless fixtures, such as automatic toilets and motion-activated faucets, and air freshener at their disposal. Full-length mirrors, shelving for belongings and electric hand dryers are also on their wish list.

The 2017 Healthy Hand Washing Survey queried 1,042 American adults online Dec. 12-15, 2016, about their workplace restrooms, hand washing habits in public restrooms and concerns about germs, colds and the flu. Participants were from around the country, were 18 years and older, and were fairly evenly split between men and women (49 and 51 percent).

The survey also explored hand washing behaviors in and out of the workplace. 61% of workers say they've seen a colleague leave the restroom without washing his or her hands. That's a marked increase from the 2016 survey when less than half (42 percent) said they had witnessed a coworker skip hand washing.

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