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What does your desk say about you?
ARE you a fan of potted plants,
personal framed pictures and novelty desk mascots or do you prefer
your desk to remain free of personal clutter? Do you thrive with a
tidy desk or are you more efficient when your desk is untidy?
Is a messy desk really the
preserve of the creative genius or does creating your own ‘nest’
at work give a sense of belonging and settlement?
“Walk into any company and the chances are you will find
people whose desks are all very differently organised. While some companies might in fact employ a policy or have a
culture of desk etiquette, it seems the majority simply leave desk
decorating decisions down to the individual employee. So can
you really be efficient if your desk is messy? And can employers
determine what best motivates an individual by the state of their
desk? We thought it was time to find
out!” says
Andy Haywood, joint Managing Director of officebroker.com.
Louise Weston is one of the business psychologists working with
Pearn Kandola. She says:- “You can certainly gain some insight
into an individual’s personality and what motivates them by looking
at how they organise their desk. In fact, it can even give Managers
a quick snapshot into how to best motivate members of their team.”
Pearn Kandola and officebroker.com offer the following examples:-
A person who displays targets or project charts on or around their
desk is often highly motivated by achievement and by setting goals
for themselves.
Those with pictures of their family or friends on their desk and
an array of personal paraphernalia tend to be more people focussed
and are motivated by their relationships both inside and outside of
the work place.
Employees who have screen savers or calendars depicting tropical
beaches tend to be more hedonistic – for them motivation is all
about the pleasure principle. They seek pleasure in every
opportunity, perhaps preferring to meet clients over lunch at a nice
restaurant, for example.
People with ‘stylish’ desks, perhaps with an Apple Mac on
it because they ‘like the design’, or with stylish
flowers or plants tend to be motivated by culture and the
environment in which they work.
Desks without any personal objects are often the preserve of the
introvert – these people might even use files to create a barrier
around themselves and their work. They prefer their desks to face
into a wall rather than out into the office.
Conversely, people who use their desks to display their
personalities tend to be more extrovert and may even have joke
calendars or desk top toys to draw people over to their work space
and create a talking point. These types of people prefer desks
facing out to the rest of the team.
A neat and tidy desk is often a sign of a highly conscientious
individual – someone who is well organised and prefers to focus on
one thing at a time.
A more spontaneously organised desk shows someone who is good at
multi tasking and can switch between different tasks quite quickly
and easily. They tend to be flexible and creative in their approach
to work.
“People’s desks can give employers and Managers an insight
into what makes individuals in their organisation tick.... And changing the position of a person’s desk
might seem trivial to a manager but can in fact have a profound
effect on some employees, making them feel sidelined for example or
creating a different environment which may take them time to adjust
to.”
“From a motivational perspective, Managers should look at a
person’s desk to determine how to get the best out of that
individual. If someone has
certificates or trophies on their desk, the chances are they need
regular pats on the back and recognition for their achievements,
perhaps by sending round an office email declaring what a great job
they have done on a particular task. Pleasure seekers can be
motivated by the offer of bonuses such as weekend breaks or trips to
a top restaurant if they reach their targets, while those displaying
lots of family photographs may be motivated by the offer of
flexitime or time off in lieu for example.
Everyone’s desk is different and we can
all find out more about what makes our colleagues tick by taking a
look at their desks. It is a fun and fascinating, but actually quite
serious, way for employers to determine how to improve performance
or productivity and realise that there is no such thing as a ‘good’
or ‘bad’ desk – each individual performs best when they are
allowed to express themselves and their personality in the work
place and their desk is often one very easy way to do this.”
explained Louise.
Would you agree with this? Please do let
us know by emailing our news room at:-
news24@southportreporter.com. |
Lungs aren’t indestructible, says British Lung Foundation
1 in 3 people
in the UK wrongly believe that if they damage their lungs they can
be repaired, according to a survey released by the British Lung
Foundation. Young people aged 16 to 24 are more likely to believe
this than any other age group. The British Lung Foundation says this
is particularly worrying in the light of media reports earlier this
week that singer Amy Winehouse has lung damage.
Young people in particular need to understand that it is impossible
to recover completely from lung damage and that even just 1
cigarette a day can cause permanent scarring, says the BLF. Media
reports earlier this week indicated that singer Amy Winehouse has
early stages of the lung disease emphysema, part of a group of
conditions known as COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). It
is a progressive disease so cannot be cured, but stopping smoking is
vital as it slows down the accompanying decline in lung function.
The survey, carried out by GfK NOP as part of the British Lung
Foundation’s Big, Breaths campaign, showed that 30% of all Britons,
and 39% of people in the 16 to 24 age group wrongly believe that
damaged lungs can be repaired.
“We can’t expect our lungs to act like vacuum cleaner bags and
cope with all the dust, dirt and fumes we inhale every day,
particularly if we smoke,” says Dr Keith Prowse, Chairman of
the British Lung Foundation. “Our lungs aren’t indestructible. Once they get inflamed there’s a danger of permanent lung damage and
breathlessness when we want to walk, run, sing, dance and exert
ourselves in any way.”
43-year old Debbie started smoking at the age of 11 and was
diagnosed with COPD a few years ago. She became more and more
breathless and everyday activities became increasingly difficult. When her most recent baby was born she didn’t have the strength to
push her pram. She now relies on full-time oxygen and is
hoping to go on the waiting list for a lung transplant. “When I
was a teenager, I used to think it was cool to smoke, says
Debbie. “It’s anything but cool to be 43 with COPD. I try to
keep a positive frame of mind and keep active, but it’s hard. All I
want is to be able to live a normal life. I remember seeing the
anti-smoking adverts a few years ago with the old woman struggling
to breathe through an oxygen mask and it made my blood run cold. I
never dreamt it could happen to me in a million years.”
The British Lung Foundation survey also asked people what they would
miss most if they developed chronic breathing problems that severely
limited their ability, as is the case with late stage COPD. 37% say
they would miss going for a walk, 22% say they would miss playing
with their children or grandchildren, 15% say they would miss taking
part in sport, and 6% say they would miss a physically loving
relationship.
A
work culture not a welfare culture
FREEDOM of
choice will be central to radical welfare reform plans, the
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, James Purnell said
recently. James Purnell outlined his vision for the future of
the welfare system, devolving power, and opening the door for local
providers to offer their own solutions to unemployment.
Speaking at the CESI Welfare to Work conference in Birmingham, James
Purnell said:- "Claimants should have the choice over how to
get back to work, not whether they should go back to work.
We want a
work culture, not a welfare culture and we can only achieve this by
reforming the system so that it demands personal responsibility.
I want to give more power to customers, providers and regions.
We
are reforming the Welfare State from an essentially passive one to a
profoundly active one. "
Mr Purnell set out a radical approach to developing employment
schemes. He said the Government recognised one of the strengths of
local providers is the potential to develop new solutions to
existing problems. Under the new "right to bid" process
every serious idea will be properly evaluated, by a DWP
commissioning team, who will report to the Secretary of State and
the Permanent Secretary.
James Purnell said:- "I want to hear their proposals. I want
to be able to harness this creativity, and test the ideas we receive
so that we can develop the innovative ideas for future programmes or
enhance the effectiveness of current ones to help even more people
back into work. Most radically, for the most committed areas,
we want to experiment with a fully devolved model.
We want to
challenge areas to meet strict criteria - including ambitious
pooling of budgets and a record of successful delivery, partnership
working and clear governance arrangements. In return we will offer
greater freedom to choose."
Announcing an additional £5m to extend City Strategy pilots for a
further 2 years, Mr Purnell said he wanted to investigate giving
regions more control over improving employment in their area:-
"Today, no region has a claimant unemployment level higher
than 4%. But in all of our regions, there are parts of our community
that have been left behind. As the problems of worklessness have
become more localised, so the solutions have too. To get those
bespoke solutions, I want to devolve power to the local level, so
that cities and sub-regions can pool funding. Put their budgets
together to develop a comprehensive solution, not dozens of small
interventions." |
