Work Habits of the New Millennium. Global Office Research

1

• Work Habits of the New Millennium
• Global Office Research

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Table of Contents

• Page
• Background and Objectives 3
• II. Research Methodology 5
• Executive Summary 8
• IV. Detailed Findings 13
• Organizational Skills 14
• Technology in the Workplace 30
• Energy and Effort 39
• Office Etiquette 49
• Corporate Change 55
• Demographics 63

3

• Background and Objectives

4
Background and Objectives

• The Esselte was interested in conducting a global
  study among office managers that would generate
  newsworthy findings and provide insights into
  global work habits.
• Specific questions addressed in this research
  include
• How important are organizational skills in the
  office and how do managers rate themselves?
• How important is technology in the workplace and
  our lives overall?
• How much energy is used (or wasted) in the
  office?
• How does office etiquette differ in each country?
• How has the work place changed in the past few
  years and what does the future hold?

5

• Research Methodology

6
Research Methodology

• An online questionnaire of approximately 15
  minutes in length was fielded among Greenfield
  Online and Ciao AG panelists. A total of 2,611
  interviews were completed among the panelists.
• Completed interviews in each country were as
  follows
• US n563
• UK n510
• Australia n511
• Germany n506
• France n521
• Respondents were screened to meet the following
  criteria
• Currently work in an office setting
• Responsible for managing at least one employee

7
Research Methodology Statistical Testing

• Findings in this report were tested at the 90
  and 95 confidence interval. Significant
  differences are denoted by a letter indicating
  which subgroup they are higher than.
• A capital letter indicates that the finding is
  significantly higher than that subgroup at a 95
  confidence interval.
• Differences at the 90 confidence interval are
  denoted with a lower case letter.
• On bar charts and graphs, statistically
  significant differences will be denoted with
  either a red circle or arrow to point them out.
• Significance testing was based on one of the
  following two procedures
• Z-Test for percentages
• Independent t-Test for Means

8

• Executive Summary

9
Executive Summary

• Around the globe, general office atmosphere and
  acceptable office behavior varies.
• Managers in most countries believe that being
  organized is a learned trait and half of the
  interviewed managers feel as if they could stand
  to work on these skills.
• As far as work space goes, the French claim to
  have the most organized desks. Overall, desk
  space is organized but relaxed.
• Aside from their computers, filing cabinets and
  file folders are important tools to help keep
  managers organized, from country to country.
• Australians are most likely to think that
  organizational skills are taken into account
  during annual reviews and feel exercising these
  skills can help them to get them noticed,
  appreciated or promoted quicker.

10
Executive Summary

• Technology is a way of life for these managers
  most spending nearly ¾ of their day plugged in
  to some form of technology.
• Nearly everyone appears to appreciate computers
  and technology saying it has made working life
  easier and it helps organization.
• These managers are making good use of their
  computers.
• About half of their work files are electronic
  versus paper. Still, paper is being used and
  many find it is being wasted in the office.
• In the US and UK, emails pour in throughout the
  day.

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Executive Summary

• These managers are working hard More than half
  believe that they work more than their boss.
• The average number of hours worked per week is
  44, and about ? are putting in 50 hours or more
  per week.
• If they had two more hours per week most managers
  would like to spend time at home with their
  families.
• Currently, US and UK managers are working more
  than they were five years ago while the French
  and Germans are working less.
• Although they are working more, US managers are
  finding it easier to separate their home life
  from work than they did in the past.

12
Executive Summary

• Acceptable office etiquette can differ from
  country to country.
• Germany and France seem to be more relaxed with
  their anything goes dress code.
• They are also more likely to have been asked out
  by their boss.
• Most believe that the corporate office has
  changed in the past five years but what the
  future holds is questionable.

13

• Detailed Findings

14

• Organization Skills

15
Most respondents believe that being organized is
a learned trait especially Germans

• French and British managers are more likely than
  others to believe that organization is a trait
  that you are born with.

Q16. Is being organized a learned trait or one
youre born with?
16
More than half of all respondents surveyed feel
their organizational skills could be improved

• US and Australian managers feel as if they could
  work on their organizational skills.
• The French feel most organized while American
  managers are most likely to say they should be
  more organized.

Q39. Do you feel you should be more organized?
17
Managers in France claim to have the most
organized desks

• Across the board, about half of respondents were
  willing to admit they were messy but under the
  stipulation that they can still find what they
  need.
• Despite being the least likely as a group to say
  their organizational skills could be improved,
  just one-fourth of German managers gave their
  desk a top organizational rating.

Q18. Which best describes your desk?
18
For the most part, desks say positive things
about their owners

• A plurality of managers surveyed feel their desks
  says they are professional but relaxed,
  followed by organized chaos.
• The French are most likely to have a desk that
  describes them as professional but relaxed or
  possibly prim and properbut rarely messy.
• Few feel their desks say they are very messy
  and even fewer feel their desks says they are
  prim and proper.

Q4. What do you think your desk says about you?
19
Can someone help me find my temper?

• Germans and French are more likely to admit that
  they lose their temper in the office.
• Meanwhile Americans and the British, who tend to
  describe themselves as less organized, are
  misplacing their paperwork.
• Australians misplace paperwork and equipment
  almost equally.

Q5. What do you lose the most often at work?
20
A majority of managers are employing to-do-lists,
although not completely

• Americans are making to-do lists to help them get
  things done, and about half get more than ¾ of
  their list done.
• Those who make to-do lists are pretty good about
  getting things done. Germans seem to be split
  between crossing things off of their lists and
  not making them at all.

Q20. Do you make to-do lists? If yes, what
percentage of your to-do list typically gets done?
21
Filing drawers and cabinets are most helpful in
keeping managers organized

• German managers are even more reliant upon filing
  drawers and cabinets to stay organized than
  managers in other countries.
• British and Australians are much more likely than
  their foreign counterparts to rely on their
  inbox as an organizational tool.

Q15. What is the most useful organizational tool
in your office aside from a computer?
22
A majority of French respondents believe their
organizational skills are being scrutinized

• About half of the respondents in other countries
  dont think their boss takes the level of
  organization/clutter in their workspace into
  considerate during their annual review.
• Although no country appears to completely
  disregard the role of organization and clutter in
  their work performance and evaluation,
  respondents in the US, German, and UK are less
  likely than others to consider this an issue.

Q14. Do you think your boss takes the level of
organization/clutter in your workspace into
account during your annual review?
23
Similar to how they are judged, French managers
judge on organization

• French managers are significantly more likely
  than others to say that their staffs level of
  organization/clutter is taken into consideration
  during their annual review.
• With the exception of Germany managers, all
  managers are more likely to take organizational
  qualities into account when reviewing their
  underlings, than feel their organizational skills
  are considered.
• Germans tended to feel organization was innate,
  and place less emphasis on this quality.

Q13. Do you take your staffs level of
organization/clutter into consideration during
their annual review?
24
Organization may help Australians climb the
corporate ladder, but not Germans

• Interestingly, French respondents are the most
  likely to feel the organization of their
  workspace is taken into consideration during
  reviews, but fewer than half feel this will help
  them advance in their careers.
• Germans are least likely to believe that being
  more organized will help an employee get noticed,
  appreciated or promoted quickerclosely inline
  with their opinions of the role of organizational
  skill in their annual review.

Q25. Do you feel that being more organized will
help you get noticed, appreciated, or promoted
quicker?
25
Disorganized Celebrities US

• Rocker Courtney Love is by far seen as the most
  disorganized celebrity in the US. Jessica
  Simpson is a distant second probably an easy
  target after being in the spotlight during the
  MTV reality show Newlyweds.

Base Total US respondents (563)
Q12. Which celebrity do you think is most
disorganized?
26
Disorganized Celebrities - UK

• UK model Jordan is on par with Courtney Love for
  disorganization.
• Gweneth Paltrow and Tony Blair tie for a far
  second.

Base Total UK respondents (510)
Q12. Which celebrity do you think is most
disorganized?
27
Disorganized Celebrities - Australia

• In Australia, Sara Marie Fedele of the reality
  series Big Brother is seen as the most
  disorganized celebrity by a wide margin over next
  competitor Russell Crowe.

Base Total Australian respondents (511)
Q12. Which celebrity do you think is most
disorganized?
28
Disorganized Celebrities - France

• French respondents are less unanimous about their
  pick for most disorganized celebrity. Pop
  singer/actress, Lio, is the most disorganized
  celebrity in France, but world-renowned actor
  Gerard Depardieu is not far behind.

Base Total French respondents (521)
Q12. Which celebrity do you think is most
disorganized?
29
Disorganized Celebrities - Germany

• German entertainer and comedian, Stefan Raab, is
  seen as the most disorganized celebrity by more
  than six in ten German managers surveyed.

Base Total German respondents (506)
Q12. Which celebrity do you think is most
disorganized?
30

• Technology in the Workplace

31
Respondents surveyed are living in a technology
driven society

• Over half of respondents across all countries
  surveyed spend 75 or more of their day plugged
  in.

Q22. What percentage of your day is spent using
some form of technology (computer, printer, etc)?
32
What would managers do without computers (at home
or at work)?

• Two-thirds of all managers feel that computers
  are the center of life both at work and at home.
• That number approaches ¾ in Australia with
  Germany appearing the most technologically
  dependent.

Q41. Do you feel that computers are the center of
life both at work and at home?
33
Its nearly unanimousoffice life is made easier
through technology

• French and German managers are even more likely
  to endorse this theme.
• Despite being somewhat less likely to say
  computers are the center of their home and work
  lives, French managers feel technology has made
  their lives easier.

Q34. Do you feel that the more intensified use of
technology (e-mail, computer) has made working
life easier or harder for you?
34
Technology has helped most managers to become
organized

• Despite a heavy reliance upon computers in home
  and work, and a belief that technology has made
  life easier, Germans are less likely than their
  international corollaries to say technology has
  helped them become organized. Perhaps they are
  using other things to help keep them organized.

Q26. Has technology helped you get organized?
35
By far, US managers receive the most emails each
day

• Without question, the US managers are relying
  more heavily on email than their counterparts,
  followed distantly by UK managers.
• A majority of managers in Australia, Germany and
  France claim they receive 25 or fewer emails a
  day.

Q32. How many emails do you receive in a typical
day?
36
Environmental consciousness or inconvenience?

• Only a very small minority of managers actually
  print e-mails before reading them.
• Australians are most likely to view a hard copy
  of their emails, though less than one in ten do
  so.

Q33. Do you typically print your e-mails before
reading them?
37
Overall, more than half of the respondents files
are stored electronically (versus paper)

• About one third of respondents store a majority
  of their files electronically.
• France leads the pack regarding electronic
  storing of files. Recall that this group was
  most likely to say they feel technology has made
  them more organizedthis is likely one of the
  ways it has done so.

Q19. What percentage of your files are electronic
(versus paper)?
38
German managers print out the fewest number of
pages per day on average

• Just about ½ of those surveyed in each country
  print less than 25 pages per day.

Q21. How many pages do you print in a typical
day?
39

• Energy and Effort

40
Whos the Boss?

• More than half of all respondents feel as if they
  are working more than their boss.
• Germans are least likely to say that they work
  more than their boss.
• Few feel the administrative assistant/office
  manager works the most.

Q9. Who works more?
41
Most managers would name their office assistants
HEATH

• However, it should be noted that ? of the
  respondents were office managers.

Base Total Respondents (2611)
Q27. Which acronym best describes your/the office
administrative assistant?
42
The French are most likely to label their
administrative assistant positively

• Although mentioned only by a minority of those
  surveyed, Australians are more likely to think
  that theirs is efficient, yet annoying.

Q27. Which acronym best describes your/the office
administrative assistant?
43
Save the trees and time

• Even with the growing use of computers and
  technology and electronic filing, paper is seen
  as the biggest waste in an office environment.
• Time is seen as a big office wastecited by three
  in ten respondents.
• With tight purse strings in most corporate
  environments and a focus on bottom line, money is
  unlikely to be cited as the biggest waste.
• France is most concerned with time and energy and
  apparently quite resourceful with their paper.

Q6. What is the biggest waste in your office?
44
US managers log more office hours than
corollaries in other countries surveyed

• No one surveyed works 40 or fewer hours.
  Everyone is putting in at least some over time.
• The French and the British are a close second to
  US managers surveyed.
• Nearly ? of all managers are putting in extra
  time in the office (50 or more hours a week.)

Q28. How many hours do you work in an average
week (at office, home)?
45
A good number take work home on a regular basis

• Australians are significantly more likely than
  managers in other countries to take work home
  with them on a regular basis.
• US managers tend to be less likely to take work
  home, but they are spending more hours in the
  office.

Q29. Do you regularly take work home (evenings,
weekends)?
46
Most respondents have an office at their home

• Respondents in France are most likely to have a
  home office.
• Although most respondent say that they dont take
  work home with them, more than half have a home
  office at their disposal if they should need it.

Q30. Do you have an office at home?
47
Nearly all respondents surveyed have a computer
at their home

• A majority of respondents use their computers for
  pleasure.
• Germans are the most likely to use their home
  computer for office workbut this is mentioned by
  only two in ten.
• Meanwhile, one it ten British managers dont have
  a computer at home.

Q31. Do other members of your household use your
home computer as well? If yes, what do they use
it for most?
48
Family and health are most important

• US managers are even more likely than their
  international counterparts to endorse the
  family-centric approachsaying that is how they
  would spend an extra two hours a day if it was
  available.
• While Germans and Australians are most likely to
  say they would spend their extra time at home
  with family like others surveyed, they were more
  likely than others to also mention going out
  drinking or eating with friends.

Q36. What would you do with two extra hours each
day?
49

• Office Etiquette

50
I didnt mean to bring him homeit was an
accident!

• Most of us have accidentally left the office with
  a pen or notebook in our briefcase that didnt
  belong to us, a few office workers are slipping
  out the door with a coworker.
• French and US managers are least likely likely to
  get cozy with a coworker.

Q7. What item have you accidentally taken home
with you from your office?
51
I will have a tuna on rye

• It seems to be fairly common practice for bosses
  to ask their employees to pick up breakfast or
  other meals for them

• The following other responses were mentioned by
  1 or fewer respondents
• Socialize/Party/Drink after work
• Go home/Take a vacation
• Fudge numbers/Lie
• Clean/Fix something
• Look after a pet

Q8. What is the most unusual thing your boss has
asked you to do?
52
US managers field the fewest unusual requests

• Although the French are least likely to say they
  brought someone home from the office, more have
  been asked out on a date by their boss than
  respondents in other countries.
• The US and UK are the least likely to have been
  asked out on a dateprobably with similar
  established sexual harassment policies.

Q8. What is the most unusual thing your boss has
asked you to do?
53
Social equity cant be replaced

• Most managers wont leave a job without their
  contact information.
• Writing instruments run second, and are nearly as
  important to German managers as contact
  information.

Q10. What one essential item have you taken from
job to job?
54
Codes of dress vary by country, but a plurality
are biz casual

• British and Australian managers dress more
  formally in the workplace than those in France
  and Germany.
• American offices are business casual, while
  offices in Germany and France are more open to
  letting employees where whatever they want to
  work.

Q11. What is your offices dress code?
55

• Corporate Change

56
About ? believe that the corporate office has
changed radically in the past 5 years, but
respondents are split on what the next five will
bring
Base Total Respondents (2611)
Q23. Will the corporate office change radically
in the next five years?
Q24. Has it changed radically in the past 5 years?
57
US, UK and Australian managers foresee corporate
office change in the near future

• Germans are least likely to say that there has
  been corporate change in the past 5 years, or
  that there will be.

Q24. Has it changed radically in the past 5 years?
Q23. Will the corporate office change radically
in the next five years?
58
US, UK and Australian managers are working less
than they were 5 years ago while German and
French managers are working more
Q35. Did you work more or less 5 years ago?
59
Most believe that the future of work will be what
you do not where you go

• American and Australians are most likely to agree
  with this statement.

Q40. Can you see a time when work is what you
do rather that where you go?
60
Americans are finding it easier than others to
separate home life from work than they were five
years ago

• Germans are finding it to be much more difficult.

Q37. Is it easier or harder to separate work from
home life than it was five years ago?
61
The French are most content with their balance of
work and home/leisure time

• The French may find it easier to balance work and
  home/leisure life possibly due to working less
  than they did 5 years ago.

Q38. Are you happy with your balance of work and
home/leisure time?
62
Germans and French are significantly more likely
to say, I love my job.

• Over ? of the German and French respondents say
  they love their job.
• UK managers are most likely to say their job just
  pays the bills. Americans and Australians feel
  similarly.

Q17. What does your job mean to you?
63

• Demographics

64
Interviewed respondents were screened to ensure
they were responsible for managing at least one
employee

• US respondents manage the greatest number of
  employees on average.

S2. How many people are you responsible for
managing, if any?
65
Job Title

• A majority of the respondents were middle
  managers or office managers.

Base Total Respondents (2611)
Q3. What is your job title?
66
Job Title

• Most respondents fell into the team or middle
  manager category except for German respondents
  who were more likely to categorize themselves as
  having an office manager, administrative or
  clerical title.

Q3. What is your job title?
67
Gender/Age
Base Total Respondents (2611)
Q1. What is your age group?
Q2. What is your gender?
68
Age

• Males were slightly more likely to qualify for
  the survey.

Q1. What is your age group?
Q2. What is your gender?