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Workplace

Know-it-alls, working naked and bad excuses: survey reveals workplace habits

A survey of American office workers has revealed the use of excuses such as it being Elvis’ birthday and stumbling upon the love of their life for being late for work as well as other interesting findings.

A SURVEY IN the US has revealed some interesting beliefs among employees in the workplace including their top frustrations such as working with a ‘know-it-all’, attending company events and a boss who takes credit for their work.

The survey of over a thousand American office workers by Wakefield Research on behalf of technology firm Citrix has found that almost three-quarters of office workers have at least one company event that they dislike.

These include 34 per cent of workers who dislike participating in costume contests followed by 31 per cent who dislike team-building activities, the most disliked office event for male workers is baby showers while for female workers it is staff photos.

Almost half of those who responded – 49 per cent – said they worked with a ‘know-it-all’ while 44 per cent said they worked with a whiner.

Over half of those surveyed – 51 per cent – believe that a constant complainer would be the most annoying type of person to sit next to every day.

Employees identified the boss who steals their ideas as the worst type (37 per cent) followed by 33 per cent who said it was a ‘know-it-all’ boss. Twenty-seven per cent dislike bosses that ignore them.

The survey also carried details of excuses repondents had heard for employees being late for work or not turning up at all.

They included “my bike ran out of petrol”, “petrol is too expensive”, “I’m dieting”, “I drank too much Club Orange and was too tired to come in”, ”I’m having toenail issues”, “It’s Elvis’ birthday”, “I have nothing to wear”, and “I stumbled on the love of my life”.

Seventy-two per cent of respondents said they would be more likely to respond to an urgent work email they receive while on holidays than to pretend they didn’t see it.

Employees said that if they could work from home just one day a week they would, in 32 per cent of cases, give up lunch breaks. A quarter of those surveyed said they would give up alcohol while a fifth said they would give up coffee.

Finally, nearly half of those who were surveyed who had worked from home said they’re most likely to wear jeans and t-shirts while sitting on their couch.

Twenty-five percent are most likely to work in their pyjamas while 7 per cent said they worked from home in their underwear or else fully naked.

Read: 75 per cent of women in Ireland feel they have experienced sexism in the workplace – research

Read: Workers in Ireland hate laziness, moodiness and volume of co-workers – study

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