The London Office Workers’ Survey 2015 has uncovered what London workers really think about their colleagues, offices and what they can’t live without…
When faced with the question “what is the one thing you can’t live without in the office?” our shameless London office workers have no qualms in dropping their colleagues! According to the results from the survey, what we really want to get us through the 9 – 5 is simply ‘coffee’ (27%). The caffeine buzz is even more important than our friends (4%) and mobile phones. (We’re sorry tea drinkers, you came second).
The survey carried out by Swift Office Cleaning Services Ltd presents interesting findings on office workers’ perceptions of their working environment and details of their commute.
So, what about the offices we work in – how do we feel about the premises in which we spend our working week?
As the trend for companies to move towards open plan working instead of the traditional segregated office continues– results from the Survey suggest workers would actually invite the return of the individual office format. Open plan working is proving to be too noisy and cluttered for workers. 20% of people cited the space in the office to be one thing they would change if they have the opportunity, be it having their own office, or to “have smaller office areas rather than the large open plan layout”.
The minimalist design in offices is also a gripe for many London workers. 10% of survey respondents would change the look of their office saying “paint it a bright colour”, “less clinical white on the walls”, “more inviting décor”, make it “more colourful and spacious”. And the significance of office décor should not be underestimated, 66% of people questioned gave décor a mark of 4 or 5 out of 5 for importance compared with just 2% who gave it little or no value at all. And of course someone wanted a slide installed…
It’s not just office décor that holds great value to workers. Companies who get the environment and cleanliness right could see their work productivity soaring as 90% of London workers say they feel more productive in a clean environment and 86% of Londoners in the survey strongly agree that a clean office is important. 9% would like to see “people be more clean around the office”, have “better cleaners” and “have it cleaned on a regular basis”.
Perhaps surprisingly only 9% of London office workers taking the survey said they’d change the people they work with. Of course there were a couple of people saying they’d change “the boss”, and someone simply wants “more women”!
However, other people-related issues include wanting to have “better teamwork”, “the best people, clean and tidy people” and to “get rid of the lazy workers”.
It would appear that our office managers need to take a good look at office provisions too. Of course there are the requests for free biscuits in the kitchen and requirements for better coffee machines (we already know this is THE most important thing in the office…) but when it comes to eating and drinking in the office, the general consensus is “not to allow staff to eat at their desks”. This brings us back to the desire for “more space effective” layouts in the office and specifically areas to relax and to eat away from desks.
‘6 of the Best’ from the London Office Workers’ Survey 2015
1: 42% believe men and women are equally messy in the office, yet 40% think it’s just the men…
2: 20% of commuters read the free papers
3: 90% of workers feel more productive in a clean environment
4: 27% of people choose coffee over anything else in the office…
5: … including their friends! 4%
6: In fact 9% of you would change the people you work with – including your boss!
For more information visit Swift Cleaning.co.uk
Jason McCrossan 