A survey by LinkedIn on ‘pet peeves’ has revealed that workers around the world have a many common irritations that plague them on a daily basis.
The survey found that employees in India are most likely to feel irritated at work. The survey also found American staff get most annoyed by co-workers taking food from the fridge that doesn’t belong to them, Brazilians are irritated by gossiping, and British workers get wound up by constantly complaining colleagues.
Germans are annoyed by dirty common areas, including microwaves and fridges, Indian employees are most likely to be irritated by mobile phone ringtones and text alerts, and Japanese workers don’t take kindly to office pranks.
There were also gender differences: 51% of UK women were annoyed by ‘clothing that’s too revealing for the workplace’ while only 21% of UK men said it was an issue. Swedish workers were the most accepting of inappropriate clothing in the workplace.
Nationality or gender differences aside, that vast majority of professionals surveyed (78% of 17,000) agreed their top peeve is ‘people not taking ownership of their actions’.
Sixteen countries were included in the survey which listed a total of 38 pet peeves. India was found to have the most, Italy has the least, and the UK the tenth in the list.
Some other peeves included in the list were:
- Leaving food in the fridge or microwave past its sell by date.
- Snoozer meetings.
- People who don’t pick up e-mails.
- Long or late meetings.
So, what’s the solution to eliminating the office peeve so we can all lead more happy and fulfilled lives in the workplace? The first thing is not to brush it under the carpet and pretend it’s not there. It’s always best to be honest and deal with what irritates early on so that it doesn’t escalate. There’s no need to confront your colleagues like a bull in a china shop as it could strain your relationship even more. The secret is tact, to remain calm, keep professional and don’t make it personal.
If you ever get peeved at work let us know about it (and how you solved it) by leaving a comment or posting a message on our Facebook page.
Tags: linkedin, pet peeves