Colleagues taking credit for our work, the computer crashing and rude clients or customers have been named as the things which get us hot under the collar at work, it has been revealed. Researchers found that 51% of Brits often have fiery moments in the workplace, even over small things such as whose turn it is to make the tea or missing a lunch break.
Other work based niggles include people talking when you are trying to concentrate, being overlooked for a pay rise in favour of someone else, and the printer going into meltdown.
Interestingly, 42% of workers are most het up and impatient on a Monday – finding themselves totally fed up by noon.
Meanwhile, the average British worker will lose their temper twice during a normal day.
Gavin Herbert, from Old Jamaica Extra Fiery Ginger Beer, commissioned the survey to and said:
”British adults are renowned for their work hard, play hard attitude, which means that when they are in the office, they are used to coping with heavy workloads and lots of pressure.
”When working in this type of highly stressed environment, smaller niggles can get heightened and appear to be a big deal.
”As such, busy professionals are more likely to lose their temper and have a few fiery moments where they lose a bit of self-control.”
A quarter of those polled will get cross if they return to work to find someone has been using their desk and left it in a mess.
Whilst the same percentage are continuously irritated by the fact their boss rarely says thank-you for their hard work.
Other things likely to annoy workers include hearing that a colleague has bad mouthed them and gossipers, while they also can’t tolerate colleagues who suck-up to the boss, untidiness or lack of time for a lunch break.
People who slack off work also irritate many Brits – who have cited long smoking breaks, over-use of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and surfing the internet as some of the things which annoy them most.
For those people who do get hot under the collar at work, 64% try to ignore it, but 13% will confront whoever is annoying them – one in 10 people will even get themselves into an argument.
A third of workers claim their fellow colleagues are the most annoying at work, while 20% can’t tolerate the boss.
But a quarter of feisty workers admit technology failing – such as the computer, printer, telephones or air conditioning – is most likely to put them in a bad mood.
Gavin Herbert from Old Jamaica Ginger Beer continues:
”What is interesting is that when left to their own devices, British workers are generally a happy and content bunch.
”It’s only when other people – work colleagues, the boss, or tricky clients – get involved that things go pear shaped!
TOP 20 WORK NIGGLES
1. The computer crashes – 37%
2. A colleague claims the credit for your work – 30%
3. A client is rude to you – 29%
4. People won’t stop talking when you are trying to concentrate – 28%
5. The printer won’t work – 25%
6. Someone borrows your desk and leaves it in a right mess – 25%
7. The boss fails to thank you for your hard work – 25%
8. The phone constantly ringing – 23%
9. People who misread / don’t read emails properly – 23%
10. You learn a colleague has been bad mouthing you – 20%
11. A colleague insists on sucking up to the boss – 20%
12. You are overlooked for a pay rise in favour of someone else – 18%
13. People who gossip – 17%
14. You are refused a pay rise despite not having one for years – 16%
15. People who spend time on Facebook and Twitter when they should be working – 15%
16. People who spend time surfing the net when they should be working – 15%
17. Someone sits at your desk without asking – 14%
18. Colleagues who take long smoking breaks – 14%
19. Untidiness – 14%
20. You never have time for a lunch break – 14%
Old Jamaica extra fiery hits the stores this month (August) and will be on the shelves in selected Tesco and Morrisons stores.