A new study has found that a third of UK office workers only tidy their desks if their boss is coming into the office. The reason? Almost half (45%) of those questioned think they are more likely to get a promotion if they have a tidy desk.
The research, conducted by office supply specialists Fellowes, also hints that there could be an organisational crisis in UK offices, with the average employee spending seven working days per year looking for misplaced paperwork. Equating to roughly one million hours a week of wasted time, which could be costing UK businesses as a whole around £20 million a year.
What will come as a greater concern to GDPR-minded employers is that half of those questioned admitted having documents on their desk that’s over a year old. Whilst 1 in 5 revealed they have paperwork that’s over five years old lying around.
Darryl Brunt, UK Sales and Marketing Director at Fellowes, said:
“What we can see from the results, is that there are too many shortcomings in the workplace when it comes to organisation. Looming GDPR regulations should be enough of an incentive for employers to ensure their organisational processes are in check.
He added:
“Businesses should be encouraging workers to use filing and storage solutions and ensure sensitive information, no longer required, is destroyed before May – when the new regulation comes into play. Failure to meet GDPR processes could result in huge fines in the region of £20 million, which could be extremely damaging to any business.”
Half of all workers surveyed also believed their workplace design, environment and organisation has a positive impact on their productivity.