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2003 News:
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ITS A JUNGLE IN THERE!
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January 2003
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The workplace is a hotbed of inequity, back-biting, prejudice, dishonesty and amorality, says Relay survey
Over a third of women would sleep with their boss to get promotion, while overweight people are at a distinct career disadvantage, according to a survey of the workplace environment and attitudes by Relay Recruitment.
Setting out to ask the questions that others won’t, the new research found that 34 per cent of women would take up an ‘indecent proposal’ in return for advancement. It also revealed that 61 per cent of senior executives and 72 per cent of the mainstream employed chose a slim job applicant over a heavyweight one with the same qualifications and experience.
Forty-seven per cent of employees would steal from or defraud their employer if there was no possibility of their being caught, while over half of women (52 per cent) complain of bitchiness from above, feeling that they are more discriminated against by female bosses because of their sex than by men. The figure rose to 64 per cent in female senior executives
Perhaps unsurprisingly, more men than women (45 per cent) would go ‘all the way’ to secure that promotion and most people (78 per cent) have told at least one significant lie to get the job in the first place. Just about everyone (88 per cent) feels they have been the victim of a non-objective staff appraisal, while 39 per cent have endured a colleague with an intrusive personal hygiene problem.
One more positive insight into the human work-based condition is revealed, however. Most people (61 per cent) think that, with the exception of sexual offences, criminal records should not be made available for employers’ inspection.
“We wanted to explore areas that other surveys have shied away from,” says Relay MD, Steven Street. “This was to gauge what people really thought of their working situation and environment, as well as those with whom they have to share it. The results show that, despite considering ourselves sympathetic and humane, there is still much inequity, conniving, distrust, and dissatisfaction in the workplace – and many secrets.
“Some issues might be easily addressed. For example, would it kill anyone to ensure they are clean and pleasant-smelling? However, it would be a far-reaching exercise to remove all impulses, tensions and chicanery that arise when people are obliged to work closely together. Legislation can’t do it, nor will any number of training courses. Perhaps acknowledging that they exist, assuming they will occur and proceeding accordingly is the best we can do.”
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Further Results
36% of employees spend up to an hour on non-work activity – emails, gossip, text messaging - a day. Thirty-nine percent admitted to wasting one to three hours
A cheeky 2% of employees admitted to routinely getting away with doing nothing productive at all while at their place of work
42% of Senior Executives admit to having been non-objective in staff appraisals - this poor practice fuelled by personal likes, dislikes and, predictably, sexual attraction
67% of employees claim to have been bullied in their careers
35% of women and 43% of men claimed to have had an affair with a colleague.
40% of senior executives have (or would) get an inefficient employee out of their team by promoting them out of harm’s way elsewhere in the organisation
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The Survey
Took place between 4th and 8th November 2002. Split evenly by sex, 1000 employed people were selected randomly (every tenth person to pass a researcher) for face-to-face interviews. In addition, 282 senior executives, split evenly by sex, were polled by telephone.
1) The ‘mainstream employed’ were asked whether they would sleep with the boss, assuming that they were the right gender for their sexual orientation, to get a job or promotion. Men and women answered as follows:-
Women
Yes 34%
No 59%
Unsure 7%
Men
Yes 45%
No 46%
Unsure 9%
2) The senior executives were shown resumes and photographs of two people – one overweight, one slim - with identical qualifications and experience, and asked which one they would appoint to a job that both were equally qualified for. The people shown were always the same colour, same age, same sex and similarly dressed. None wore glasses, had earrings or other piercings, or had any unusual features. Their selections were:-
Slim candidate 61%
Overweight candidate 26%
Nothing to separate them 13%
3) The mainstream employed were asked to consider the same proposition:-
Slim candidate 72%
Overweight candidate 21%
Nothing to separate them 7%
Tellingly, hardly anyone admitted to being consciously influenced by candidates’ weights. The few that did felt that the overweight would have more health problems and be an immediate detraction in client-facing situations.
4) When asked whether they would defraud/steal from their employer if they were absolutely guaranteed to get away with it, the employees responded:-
Yes 47%
No 37%
Unsure 16%
Nearly everybody who admitted to potential dishonesty at work justified their stance by saying that they felt their employer “owed them” for commitment, long hours and performing beyond their job descriptions.
5) The senior executives were asked if there had ever been an occasion when they had been less than objective in staff appraisals:-
Yes 42%
No 58%
No room for uncertainty, but a worryingly significant minority admitted to poor practice.
6) Asked whether they thought that appraisals on them had ever been less than objective, the employed sample said:-
Yes 88%
No 4%
Never been appraised 8%
While nearly half of senior executives owned up to being influenced by personal likes, dislikes and even attraction, more than twice as many employees felt they had been on the receiving end of partiality – significantly, most of them opining that they had been disadvantaged.
7) When asked if they had ever told a significant lie on either a CV or in a job interview:-
Mainstream Employed
Had lied 78%
Had not lied 22%
Senior Executives
Had lied 61%
Had not lied 39%
8) When asked whether they felt that their sex had disadvantaged them in the eyes of a boss of the same gender to the extent that they had been held back in their career progress, the employed sample responded:-
Women
Yes 52%
No 30%
Unsure 18%
Men
Yes 37%
No 54%
Unsure 9%
9) The senior executives were asked the same question:-
Women
Yes 64%
No 25%
Unsure 11%
Men
Yes 41%
No 56%
Unsure 3%
Anecdotal evidence suggests that women feel more threatened by ‘Young Turks’ than men – especially when they are smarter and prettier. This may be because they had to work harder than male colleagues to get where they are, and now feel less secure generally.
10) When asked whether a colleague’s poor personal hygiene had ever become so intrusive as to put them off working with them or near them, the employed sample responded:-
Yes 39%
No 53%
Unsure 8%
Body odour, bad breath, dandruff drifts, dirty fingernails – all can make work life intolerable.
11) When asked how much time in an average day they wasted on non-work related web surfing, emailing of friends/colleagues, text messaging, general gossip and any other unauthorised activities, the employed sample responded:-
None at all 13%
Up to an hour 36%
1 –2 hours 23%
2 - 3 hours 16%
3 hours + 10%
All day 2%
Perhaps the famed long hours endured by the UK workforce might be reduced if staff placed a greater priority on actually getting down to work earlier in the day.
12) Both groups were asked whether, with the exception of sexual offences, employers should have access to the criminal records database. They responded:-
Mainstream Employed
Yes 26%
No 61%
Unsure 13%
Senior Executives
Yes 43%
No 42%
Unsure 15%
Perhaps unsurprisingly, employers would be more relaxed about being privy to workers’ transgressions than staff themselves.
14) When asked whether a superior or a colleague had ever bullied them, the employed sample responded:-
Yes 67%
No 32%
Unsure 1%
15) The employed sample was asked whether they had ever had an affair with a colleague. They answered as follows:-
Women
Yes 35%
No 65%
Men
Yes 43%
No 57%
16) The senior executives were asked if they had ever promoted (or moved sideways) an inefficient player out of their team, rather than go to the trouble of addressing the issue via training, counselling or disciplinary procedures – or if they would do so:-
Yes 40%
No 60%
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