HORMEL® COMPLEATS™ “Office Culture” survey reveals office gossip, scheming, corporate lingo, lunch theft and more!
Most everyone feels stress on the job at least from time to time. But did you know that more than half of Americans (51 percent) say the biggest source of stress at work is not the job itself, but their co-workers. A new survey* commissioned by HORMEL® COMPLEATS™ reveals the cubicle quirks American office workers encounter each day. The average American office worker must face not only their own workload but also the chatty co-workers, annoying office catchphrases and frightening office fridges that greet them everyday. All this is enough to make any cube dweller long for lunch breaks as a respite from the madness!
DAYTIME DRAMA, WITH A VIEW FROM YOUR DESK
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The Desk Is The New Water Cooler. A majority of office workers in America can’t get away from office gossip, as most of it takes place right at their desk or a co-worker’s desk (53 percent), rather than somewhere outside their workspace such as the water cooler (just 2 percent) or the kitchen or lunch room (22 percent).
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Let’s Get Personal. The most popular topic of office gossip? You! Workers’ personal lives are the most commonly discussed non-work related topic in the office (35 percent) vs. current events (29 percent), sports (14 percent), entertainment news and the latest movies and TV shows (11 percent) and celebrity gossip (1 percent).
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The Gossip Gender Gap. For men, however, the hottest office topic is current events (30 percent, vs. 28 percent for women). Women say people’s personal lives trump all other subjects (45 percent, vs. 26 percent for men).
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If These Cubicles Could Talk. Who needs to watch soap operas on the tube when juicy dramas are happening right outside of your cube? More than half (51 percent) of office workers in America say someone has betrayed a fellow employee in their workplace. Scandalous!
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Office Melodrama. More than four in ten workers say they’ve witnessed the boss or another higher-up playing favorites (44 percent), and nearly one in three have seen an employee steal credit for someone else’s work (32 percent).
ON-THE-JOB STRESS
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You Liked It, You Really Really Liked It! Once they’ve completed a tough project, many office workers say the best antidote to all the stress they’ve been under is just the satisfaction of knowing that their boss is happy: all they want is a compliment (53 percent).
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Catchphrases That Drive You Crazy. But while complimenting employees, the boss should try not to use office phrases that make people batty. The top three clichés that drive office workers nuts? “Think outside the box” (22 percent), “Team Player” (20 percent), and “Shoot me an email” (19 percent).
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Don’t Show Your Face Around Here. Men are 54 percent more likely than women to be driven nuts by the phrase “face time” (20 percent vs. 13 percent).
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Flattery Doesn’t Get You Everywhere. Brown-nosers are another major office offender. Among office workers familiar with NBC’s “The Office,” the character they’d least like to get stuck in an elevator with is irritating brown-noser Dwight Schrute, played by Rainn Wilson (27 percent).
GROSS ANATOMY OF A FRIDGE
In addition to fielding gossip and fending off bothersome co-workers, employees must contend with another creepy fixture of office culture: the dreaded office fridge!
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Ick Factor. Over a quarter (28 percent) of Americans who work in an office say their workplace fridge is more disgusting than a public restroom! And more than one in five (21 percent) say the fridge is never cleaned and it stinks.
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Sticky Fingers. Cleanliness be darned, nearly a third (32 percent) of office workers say they have taken something that wasn’t theirs from the fridge.
MY DESK IS MY CASTLE
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Desktop Delight. With all the drama going on around them, it’s no wonder so many office workers see lunch as a time to reclaim their territory. Nearly half (49 percent) of Americans who work in an office eat lunch at their desk at least three times a week.
- Never Out To Lunch. More than a quarter (26 percent) of office workers eat lunch at their desk every day.
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Ladies Who Lunch. Daily desktop dining is even more prevalent among women (30 percent, vs. 22 percent of men).
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Gimme A Break. Workers may also be choosing to chill at their cubicle because they simply don’t have time to go anywhere else: the average office worker takes just 32 minutes for their lunch break.
CAN’T GET NO SATISFACTION
- A Lack of Long-Lasting Lunches. Unfortunately, many office workers aren’t satisfied by their desktop dining: nearly half (46 percent) say they feel hungry again within just three hours of their midday meal.
For more information on the HORMEL® COMPLEATS™ “Office Culture” survey, contact Diane Lewis at diane.lewis@bm.com or 312-596-3515. Visit www.hormelfoods.com/compleats for information the new, healthy line of HORMEL® COMPLEATS™ shelf-stable, microwaveable meals.