A survey of Irish office workers about their likes and dislikes about office life.

1. A Survey for Microsoft Ireland
In partnership with Slattery PR
May 2012
By
MOD/JOC
S12-147

2. 2
Research Methodology
The primary objective of this research project was:
To gain a better understanding of
people’s annoying and admired office
habits and to see what employees
would like from their employer in way
of company support.
An online approach was used among office based workers. A
total of 300 interviews conducted among employees to discover
what bad habits Irish workers have.
All field work was carried out between Wednesday 2nd– Tuesday
8th May 2012.

3. 3
Profile of Sample – Office Workers
(Base: All office workers – 300)
Gender Age Social Class Region
% % % %
Under 25 19
Dublin 25
Male 45
25-34 29 ABC1F50+ 65
ROL 28
35-44 26
Munster 26
Female 55
45-54 18 C2DEF50- 35
Connaught
/Ulster
21
55+ 8
A cross section of Irish workers were interviewed.

4. 4
Work Life
(Base: All office workers – 300)
Employment Time spend Sector Number of
Status in office work in people in office
% % % %
A quarter Public 21
of the day 25
1–5 35
Professional
Half of services 17
Work full time 68 the day 19
Three Retail
quarters of 8 15 6–10 23
the day
Not for
profit 10
Most of
the day 24 Engineer/
Construction 9 11–20 19
Technology 8
Work part time 21–50 9
32
All day 24 51–75 4
Other 20 76–100 3
100+ 7
Average: 42 People
Various office based employees were interviewed
from different industries.

5. MAIN FINDINGS

6. Colleagues

7. 7
Top 3: Colleagues Annoying Office Habits
1. 2. 3. 4.
Colleague moodiness is
Laziness is the worst sure to annoy others, Gossiping in general is
trait in with it being ranked as Shhhh! If you want to the fourth most annoying
colleagues, ranked the the second most get along with habit in offices
most annoying office annoying habit colleagues loud talk is a
habit no no!
5. 6. 7. 8.
Turn your mobile volume Fingers don’t belong in Please knock before
down for a better office noses with 1 in 5 placing entering a room, this will
space and happier it in the top three bad lead to happier Radios play music,
colleagues habits colleagues humming is not required
Q.1 What are your top 3 biggest dislikes regarding your colleagues’ office habits? (Q.1)

8. 8
Top 3: Most Annoying Office Habits
(Base: All office workers – 300)
%
Laziness/pretending to be busy 63
Moodiness 56
Loud talking 45
Gossiping 37
Others not pulling
their weight is the
Not turning phone on silent 19
biggest dislike that
Irish office workers
Nose picking 18 have regarding their
colleagues.
Not knocking/interrupting 16
Humming 13
Q.1 What are your top 3 biggest dislikes regarding your colleagues’ office habits? (Q.1)

9. 9
Most Annoying Office Habits: Top 1-3
(Base: All office workers – 300)
%
1–3
1st 2nd 3rd
(63%) Laziness/pretending to be busy 32 16 15
(56%) Moodiness 15 24 17
(45%) Loud talking 14 19 13
(37%) Gossiping 18 9 10
Laziness receives the
(19%) Not turning phone on silent 48 7
highest first mention
of biggest colleague
(18%) Nose picking 55 9 dislike, at 1 in 3.
(16%) Not knocking/interrupting 36 7
(13%) Humming 24 7
Q.1 What are your top 3 biggest dislikes regarding your colleagues’ office habits?
(Q.1)

10. 10
Top 3 Traits Admired In Colleagues
Collaboration and working
with colleagues is the trait
most admired in colleagues,
followed closely by their
49% 47% ability to multitask.
39% 37% 37% 34% 31%
Q.7 What habits do you admire about other colleagues? Top 3. (Q.7)

11. 11
Traits Admired in Colleagues: Top 1-3
(Base: All office workers – 300)
%
1–3
1st 2nd 3rd
Collaborative Nature: Work with me
49% 21 14 14
not against
Multitasking: Everything seems to be
47% 14 22 11
managed
Presentation Skills: They sell and
39% 17 11 11
present well Collaborative natures and
time management are the top
Good with clients: Satisfied clients all
37% 8 17 12 two number 1 admired traits
round
in colleagues. While a
37% Time keeping: Always on time 21 9 8 collaborative nature remains
the most admired trait, the
How sociable they are: Life in the ability to multi-task moves
34% 10 12 12
office ahead of time management
as the second most admired
Able to defuse situations: Nothing to 4 8 19 trait overall.
31%
see here
Q.7 What habits do you admire about other colleagues? Top 3. (Q.7)

12. Self

13. 13
Worst Personal Habits
(Base: All office workers – 300)
Moodiness Loud Humming Not having mobile
16% 14% 9% on silent 9%
Laziness Pretending to
Gossiping be busy Interrupting Flirting
7% 7% 6% 4%
1 in 6 (16%) believe themselves to be a perfect colleague, while a further 1
in 6 (16%) believe moodiness is their worst trait, followed by loud talking.
Q.2 What do you think your colleagues would say is your worst habit while in the office?
* All others 3% or less (Q.2)

14. 14
Bosses Belief of Worst Habits
(Base: All office workers – 300)
%
Chattiness – Two ears & one
24
mouth
Tardiness – Wear a watch 21
Smoking – Die slowly on your 1 in 4 believe that their boss would
16
own time say they talk too much during the
working day. Tardiness comes
Noise level – People can hear second as what workers would
10
you two offices over say about themselves. 1 in 20 say
they are perfect.
Whining – faster to do myself 8
Hygiene – Mouth wash & soap 4
Gossiping – Save it for the pub 3
Q.3 If asked, what would your boss say is your most shameful office habit? (Q.3)

15. 15
Employee Productivity/ Inspiration: Top 3
(Base: All office workers – 300)
In the office early in At Home Meeting with Office before lunch When with clients
the morning 59% 46% colleagues 32% 31% 29%
Office after lunch In the car While commuting In a Café In the bathroom
27% 21% 19% 12% 10%
The early office bird does catch the worm with 3 in 5 believing that this is where they
are most productive/ inspired.
Q.4 Where are the top three places where you at your most inspired/productive? (Q.4)

16. 16
Employee Productivity and Inspiration: Top 1-3
(Base: All office workers – 300)
%
1–3
1st 2nd 3rd
59% In the office early morning 37 10 12
46% At home 17 15 14
32% In meeting with colleagues 5 13 14
31% In the office before lunch 7 12 12
29% With clients 8 10 11
Early morning in the office
takes the top spot for
27% Office after lunch 5 12 9 productivity with almost 2 in
5 giving it first mention. At
21% In the car 6 8 7 home coming out ahead at
the second most inspirational
19% On the commute 4 6 8 and productive place.
12% In a café 35 4
10% In the bathroom 34 4
Q.4 Where are the top three places where you at your most inspired/productive? (Q.4)

17. 17
Boss Productivity Perceptions
(Base: All office workers – 300)
Desk 31%
Office 24% Doesn’t care as
long as work 23%
Meetings 8%
On the Road 8% At Home 8%
1 in 3 believe that their boss thinks them to be most inspired/ productive while at their
desk. While 1 in 4 state that bosses believe staff productivity is office based. A further
23% believe that their boss doesn’t care where the work gets done, just that it gets done.
Q.5 Where does your boss think you are most productive? (Q.5)

18. Technology

19. 19
Bad Technology Habits: Top 3
(Base: All office workers – 300)
Keep
Never back
personal data
up work
on work
technology
machine
32% 31%
Use work Don’t care
Don’t delete Don’t secure
technology about work
information devices
for personal devices, they
after use properly
business are tools
28% 25% 22% 22%
Download Don’t follow
Use my own Play games Take my work
software company
technology on work gear on
apps onto maintenance
for work technology holidays
work devices guidelines
19% 18% 15% 15% 9%
Keeping personal information on machines and not backing
devices up are the two worst habits that office workers have.
Q.6 What are the top three bad office technology habits that you have? (Q.6)

20. 20
Bad Technology Habits: Top 1-3
(Base: All office workers – 300)
%
1–3
1st 2nd 3rd
32% Keep personal data on my machine 12 11 9
31% Never back up technology 18 7 6
28% Use technology for personal business 12 8 8
25% Don’t delete information after use 7 8 10
22% Don’t secure devices properly 7 7 8
Although never backing up
technology is the 1st bad
22% Don’t care about devices only tools 9 9 4 habit mentioned for 1 in
5, keeping person data on
19% I use my own technology for work 7 6 6 work machines is seen as the
worst personal habit among
18% I play games on work technology 7 5 5 workers.
I download software/apps onto work 3 8 5
15%
devices
15% I don’t follow company maintenance 36 7
guidelines
9% I take my work gear on holidays 14 4
Q.6 What are the top three bad office technology habits that you have? (Q.6)

21. Company

22. 22
Habits You’d Like Your Company to Adopt: Top 3
(Base: All office workers – 300)
%
Flexibility 71
Understand work/life balance 66
Support 55
Technology 44
Trust 43
A greater flexibility is the key trait which employees want their
employer to adopt followed by an understanding of the work/life
balance.
Q.8 What habits would you like your company to adopt to make your life easier/better? Top 3. (Q.8)

23. 23
Habits You’d Like your Company to Adopt: Top
1-3
(Base: All office workers – 300)
%
1–3
1st 2nd 3rd
71% Flexibility 32 23 16
66% Understand work/life balance 20 31 15
55% Support 13 21 21
44% Technology 11 10 23
43% Trust 20 8 14
Flexibility, understanding and trust account for the
majority of the number 1 traits that employees would
like their employer to adopt, although overall trust
comes out on the bottom.
Q.8 What habits would you like your company to adopt to make your life easier/better? Top 3. (Q.8)

24. 24
Company Getting Real
Almost 2 in 5 would like their
employer to get real about
family life, understanding that
employees have one and how
important it is. Provide staff
with constructive feedback on
how they are performing is
also important– allowing for
personal development both
inside and outside of the
office.
Q.9 What would you like your company to get real about? (Q.9)

25. 25
Company Getting Real
(Base: All office workers – 300)
%
Family life is as valuable as a pay rise 39
Provide feed back – good or bad 38
Help the team collaborate 26
Show trust – let me roam 26
Support me & my decisions 23
Work is what you do, not where you go 22
Mentoring – for me & from me 20
Help me work on the go – give me tools 17
Less travel – that isn’t a perk or holiday 10
Employers need to understand that family life is as valuable as a
pay rise – that for staff that is the most important thing. While in
the office feedback is important to allow for improvement and
growth.
Q.9 What would you like your company to get real about? (Q.9)

26. 26
Top 3: What would Like to see Encouraged by
Company
(Base: All office workers – 300)
TOP 3
1.
Flexibility/adaptive
74%
2.
Understanding Work together more
56% 55%
3.
Trust Creativity
50% 47%
Flexibility and being adaptive, thus allowing for change is what
employees would most like to see encouraged in their workplace.
Q.9 What habits do employers want to see and encourage? Top 3 (Q.10)

27. 27
Like to see Encouraged by Company: Top 1 – 3
(Base: All office workers – 300)
%
1–3 1st 2nd 3rd
74%
Flexibility 23 30 21
To be adaptive to change
Understanding
56% Being more efficient equals greater job security 14 20 22
and growth
55%
Working together more 20 17 18
I am interested in networking not brown nosing
50%
Trust 18 14 18
Being given the best tools, so use them
47%
Being Creative 20 14 13
Need more creativity at work
Q.10 What habits do employers want to see and encourage? Top 3 (Q.10)

28. Summary & Conclusions

29. 29
Overview of Findings
Colleagues
When asked for colleagues top three bad office habits laziness
came out as the most annoying trait possessed by others in an
office environment, ranking about moodiness and loud talking.
The ability to collaborate and multitask were the top admired
qualities in colleagues.
Self
Irish employees believe that their colleagues believe them to be
moody and loud – stating these as their perceived worst habits.
That said they feel their boss would say that they are too chatty
and need to improve their time keeping skills.
In the office early in the morning comes out ahead in the top
three places for staff productivity and inspiration among
employees, followed by in the home. When asked where they
think their boss thinks they are most productive, the majority of
Irish employees would say at their desk with little credence given
to staff working from home.

30. 30
Overview of Findings
Technology
The biggest bad habit that Irish staff think that they have
regarding technology is keeping personal information on their
work machine followed closely in the top three ranking by never
backing up their devices.
The Company
Flexibility and a work/ life balance are key to workers with 2 in 5
believing that family life is as valuable to them as a pay rise.
When asked to list the top three things that they wish their
company would encourage a strong desire for the company to
be adaptive to change came through, followed at a distance by
understanding and working together more allowing the company
grow and move forward.

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