HR professionals who are keen to reduce workplace stress could benefit from telling employees to take the stairs, says one new survey.
That’s because, according to CareerBuilder, 16% of workers are worried they’ll get stuck or the lift will malfunction – that’s an awful lot of employees starting their day with an unwelcome bout of anxiety.
And it seems that’s not the only stressful thing about taking the elevator – the survey also identified other elevator-behaviour that could be irritating your employees before they’ve even clocked on.
Here are just some of the things employees said were cause for concern:
- Talking on a cell phone – 35%
- Not holding the door open when others are running to get on – 33%
- Standing too close when there is plenty of room – 32%
- Squeezing into an already crowded elevator – 32%
- Not stepping off to let other people out – 27%
- Holding the doors open for an extended period of time – 26%
- Cutting in line to get on – 23%
- Taking the elevator up just one or two floors – 20%
- Pushing the wrong button – 17%
- Facing away from the elevator door, instead of towards it – 7%
So it seems there’s an easy solution to reducing workplace stress (even if it is just by a little bit) – take the stairs!
On a slightly less infuriating note, the survey also asked respondents to share the most unusual things they’d ever seen in an elevator. Some of the more memorable submissions include:
- “Pantsing” a co-worker
- Changing a baby’s diaper
- Flossing teeth
- Clipping fingernails
- Fist fighting
- Dancing throughout the ride
- Showing someone a rash and asking for a diagnosis
- Moving the entire contents of a co-workers office into the elevator, including the desk
And our personal favourite…
- A woman with her arms full of papers using her head to keep the doors from closing
