The food processing industry is running overtime at the moment. With many people leaving jobs and the job market being saturated with hiring companies, how can you keep your employees happy, productive, and there?
One tactic you may not have thought of is adding a scenting service to your building. The right scent can not only help with negative odors that can naturally occur but can even help increase productivity and overall happiness at your plant. It’s a small thing to do but can have a large impact.
Garbage/Rotting Food
It’s the nature of your business to have excess that will not just be put into the garbage and, in turn, in the dumpsters, but it will rot there until it’s picked up. There’s nothing you can do about that other than increase the frequency of your trash pickup. In lieu of paying for more pickups, you can neutralize the odors in those areas. There are scenting units that can emit a dry micro-mist that consists of natural and synthetic molecules that cling to the air and neutralize the bacteria that can cause those odors. Keep in mind the odors are not only around the areas with garbage or rotting food. They are strong enough to permeate throughout the plant. So, the janitorial crew is not the only part of the workforce that will thank you for taking care of them. In addition, the pests that are attracted to the rotting smells that can come from those areas will move on to somewhere else that smells better to them and worse to us.
Employee Morale/Happiness
Just like a negative smell can make you turn your nose up and walk out, a positive one can not only make you want to stay, but you’ll be happier while you’re there. It’s more than just neutralizing foul odors. It’s scent marketing! There are many studies to support the use of scents in businesses. Scents can fight fatigue and promote mental clarity, helping workers to focus on their tasks. A more focused employee is a safer employee when it comes to working with the large machinery that food processing plants tend to have. And it’s not just for the people on the floor. A study done by Takasago Corporation in Japan found that the smell of lemons and other citrus reduced typing errors by 54%, 33% with jasmine, and 20% with lavender. Another study found that people performed significantly better in terms of speed and accuracy for typing tasks when exposed to peppermint. You can even mix and match scents. Lemon in the plant itself for a more focused worker. Lavender in the break room for a calming effect while employees take breaks. Peppermint in the corporate offices for a more alert staff. Cinnamon can improve performance on high-focus work and is also linked to better memory, so use that during the holiday months for better productivity with a seasonal spin. We all know a happier workforce is more productive and less likely to leave. If you’re looking to stand out from the plant down the road, scenting can help you do it.
Bathrooms
Bathrooms have their own set of smell issues. You want to neutralize the odors that you can’t put an end to, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to add a pleasant scent! If you can find a scenting service that can both neutralize and enhance the air in the bathroom, you’ve found the right company. The scenting may not even get noticed. More than any other sense, smell is the one that has the strongest connection to the center of our brain that regulates and controls emotions. That connection is purely psychological. So, the change may not register in your employees, but you’ll see it in their reactions and productivity levels. It’s marketing after all. Scent marketing.
Employee Retention
When it comes to retention and employee happiness, it’s more important than it has ever been before. The employee perception has changed from how much will you pay me to how much will you pay me and what else will you do for me? Those extras don’t always have to cost a lot. Some tactics like an employee of the month award that comes with a close parking space, free bagels on Fridays, and dress down days in your offices are low-cost ways to give something back and can go pretty far with your employees. Scent marketing may have a higher cost than telling people they can wear jeans and sneakers one day a week, but it just may make the difference between losing an experienced floor manager and overwhelming the other floor managers to make up for the one that left. Better to avoid the cut than to try to stop the bleeding.
Just make sure you find an experienced company to take care of your scenting services. The right kinds and amounts are important when it comes to scenting. You don’t want to assault people’s noses, but you do want it to do its job. Western can help walk you through it all whether it’s in the bathroom, the break room, or the trash room.