Swearing and oversharing - how to annoy your colleagues

Want to be popular in the office?

Don’t flirt, drink, shout or talk about your sex life, according to a new survey.

Just two in 10 UK workers think flirting with colleagues is acceptable, and 86% of people think alcohol in the office just isn’t the done thing.

The most unacceptable work behaviour was deemed to be shouting, called out by 87% of Brits, above swearing (80%) and people discussing their sex lives (83%).

But if you’ve been known to take a cheeky run to the post-office, don’t stress too much - a third of British workers (32%) think running errands during work time is completely acceptable.  

The study, by TollFreeForwarding.com, spoke to 1,000 UK workers, asking which behaviours they find the most unacceptable.

Despite the UK beer-fridge office culture, alcohol came in high, with 86% of workers saying this is frowned upon at work.  

The topic of sex revealed a notable divide. While 9 in 10 women (90%) said discussing sex at work is totally inappropriate, far fewer men (77%) agree. Similarly, a third of men (33%) think flirting at work is totally fine, compared to only 15% of women.

HR professional, Paul French, offers this advice for dealing with inappropriate behaviour in the workplace: 

“It is important for employers to have in place policies to deter and swiftly deal with inappropriate workplace behaviour. When inappropriate behaviour takes place in the workplace, the employer has an obligation to take action against the offending employee according to the organisation’s policies.  

In some cases, termination of the employment contract can be an immediate and the most appropriate action against inappropriate conduct. No matter how serious the inappropriate behaviour seems, an employer should carefully consider all the facts surrounding the case, and if possible, provide the accused a chance to respond. Termination should never be a knee-jerk reaction.“ 

Jason O’Brien, COO of TollFreeForwarding.com added: “As ‘The Great Resignation’ continues, businesses need to work hard to retain the best staff.

“Workplace culture is more important than ever when it comes to keeping these staff, with our study finding behaviours such as shouting, swearing and sarcasm could be leading to staff seeking new roles elsewhere.”