Common Annoyances at Work

Pinnacle All, Workplace Facts 1 Comment

What bothers people most at work?  According to a recent survey, co-workers who don’t manage their time well is the number one irritation, followed by gossip.

Other behaviors that cause consternation among co-workers are: making a mess in common areas, loud noise, odors, using electronics devices at inappropriate times, talking about politics, using e-mail for other than work purposes, and using social media sites for personal concerns.

Workers under 35 had more problems with noise and political conversations than older workers, according to the survey, and women were more annoyed with messy common areas than men.   Time management annoyances included taking too many breaks, such as long lunches, smoking breaks, and surfing the Web.  Other time management peccadilloes occurred when people took too many sick days and continually missed deadlines.  Time-wasting meetings also were listed under the time management annoyance category: meetings with no agenda, meetings that didn’t begin or end on time, and meetings where participants spent too much time on their personal electronic devices.  People younger than 35 also were more annoyed than older workers by meetings that took up personal time.

The most cited grievances with e-mail concerned forwarding chain e-mails and jokes, not replying to work-related messages, or asking a question that had already been answered in a previous email.

Another irritation at work among co-workers was the use of social media during work hours.  People were most peeved at the amount of time wasted by people on the sites, or when users of the sites complained of being over-worked or asked co-workers for help because of time lost or missed deadlines.  Here, older workers – those over 35 – were more apt to see the use of these sites as time wasters than their younger counterparts.

People dealt with these problems in a variety of ways.  Most — 29 percent — spoke to the person guilty of the offending practice.  Others complained to co-workers, brought the problem up with a manager, contacted the offender by email, left an anonymous note, or complained on a social media site.  But more than 25 percent of those surveyed said they did nothing to respond to the annoyances.  The survey found that women are more apt to gripe to co-workers about the annoyances, by a margin of about 25 to 15 percent.  Younger employees also are more likely to complain to co-workers about offenses, while older employees more commonly speak to the person causing the problem.

Nothing to be annoyed about with Pinnacle Staffing. Whether you’re a Winnipeg, Manitoba employer looking for great employees or whether you’re looking for a great new job position, contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!

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