Lighter Side: A stressful start to the day

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