INTY: It's official -- Britain's workforce is sm smelly, rude and noisy.

M2 PRESSWIRE-19 July 1999-INTY: It's official -- Britain's workforce is smelly, rude and noisy (C)1994-99 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:190799

Britain's workplace is made up of smelly, rude people who make too much noise and are driving their colleagues to distraction, according to a new report.

The survey, conducted by NOP on behalf of Internet management company intY, asked workers about their top office irritants. And the results don't paint a pretty picture of the average office.

Over half of those questioned claimed that their colleagues are rude, with 51 per cent complaining about co-workers'noise. While everyone is enjoying the summer heat-wave, it looks set to bring out the worst in the office environment - 43 per cent of workers claim that their colleagues smell.

Dishwater tea and coffee is also high on the list with nearly a quarter of respondents complaining about unsatisfactory beverages in the office. And when it comes to eating in the workplace, one in 10 has a big problem with the sight and sound of colleagues munching away.

Too many meetings is predictably a major bugbear. Nearly half of those questioned would prefer to spend less time discussing work and more time getting on with it.

"While this research is quite fun, there is a dark underbelly to the findings," said Mark Herbert, managing director, intY. "The stress and anxiety that is associated with seemingly trivial issues as well as more fundamental ones such as a lack ofsupport or inadequate and unreliable technology, can have serious implications for employers. Recent court rulings show that underestimating stress in the workplace can prove very costly."

From a list of 11 irritants, rude and noisy colleagues appeared at number two and number three respectively. The number one frustration named however was a lack of support in the working environment. When examined more closely, this often equated to poor, unreliable technology which often lets workers down. In fact 39 per cent of those questioned felt that computer crashes made them feel angry, frustrated, irritated and helpless.

Many office workers criticised the lack of investment in efficient and up-to-date technology. Around 82 per cent of those surveyed spend anything up to 10 per cent of their time tackling technology failure, so it's not surprising that nearly a third question their company's priorities when it happens and two thirds are accustomed to technology failure.

A quarter of those questioned admitted that technology failure makes them grumpy and snappy with colleagues and almost a third felt that it affected their work performance, making it harder to concentrate on issues and needs relating to colleagues.

"This survey presents modem offices as seething hot-beds of frustration, a lot of which could be alleviated by effective and simplified systems," stated Mark Herbert, managing director, intY. "Technology should be a tool - to most of the survey respondents it has become a taskmaster. Who'd accept this level of unreliability from any other office equipment?"

Internet technologies, which are becoming more and more of an office essential, are also unreliable, with 38 per cent of workers experiencing problems collecting e-mail. Inty, which specialises in easing problems associated with Internet and e-mail is confident that it is the solution.

"By offering an all-inclusive package, intY offers the assurance that if there's a problem, we can solve it," commented Herbert. "We don't refer our customers to software developers, Internet service providers or hardware vendors if there is an Intemet issue. Because we manage everything, we are able to provide network administrators with a stress-free, simple solution."

Top eleven office irritants

1. Lack of support (56 per cent) 2. Rude colleagues (55 per cent) 3. Noisy colleagues (51 per cent) 4. Work being behind the times (49 per cent) 5. Having too much work (46 per cent) 6. Too many meetings (44 per cent) 7. Smelly colleagues (43 per cent) 8. Technology failure (39 per cent) 9. Hot desking (27 Per cent) 10. Bad tea and coffee (22 per cent) 11. Colleagues eating (8 per cent)

The NOP survey was conducted in April 1999, among office workers representing both small, medium-sized and large companies.

CONTACT: Sue Bischoff/Leah May, Band & Brown PR Tel: +44 (0)117 927 2444 e-mail: leah@bbpr.com

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