Report reveals nation’s ‘share and share dislike’

British workers prefer to share gossip than personal items such as gadgets or food with the biggest gripe being borrowed coffee mugs.

The Vodafone/YouGov survey revealed that while small treats were the thing most shared by workers at 46% gossip came a close second at 45%.

Workers in Scotland and the East of England are the top gossipers at 61% and 52% respectively while London and the South came in at 39% and 44%.

Retail staff top the gossip leagues followed by IT and telecoms workers. Fewer than 10%  overall said they were happy to lend gadgets.

British workers are similarly protective over food with lunch one of the top three things staff are least likely to share closely followed by an aversion to sharing favourite coffee mugs and details about their private life (30%).

People in Scotland (41%) said they have the biggest gripe when it comes to other people borrowing their mug, and people from the North of England have the biggest bugbear when it comes to having details about their private lives shared by other colleagues (35%).

Retails workers least like sharing their mug (34%), those in Financial Services are most reluctant to share their food (39%), as are those in IT and Telecoms (38%), marginally ahead of an aversion to sharing headphones (37%), and Medical & Health Services workers and those in Education both least like having details about their private lives shared (32% and 37% respectively).

Even Christmas fails to evoke the sharing spirit with 75% of the 1,153 workers polled saying they weren’t more likely to share over the festive period.

Chocolates (62%) were the most likely item distributed by those workers who would be more likely to share things over Christmas followed by mince pies on 39%.

Fewer than one-fifth (17%) of Christmas sharers however would split a bottle of champagne at their work Christmas party and only 18% said they would have a dance with a colleague at the office party, while just one in 10 would join in that most iconic British tradition of kissing a work mate under the mistletoe (12%).

However, Peter Boucher, enterprise marketing director at Vodafone UK said that flexible working meant that many sharing issues were no longer a problem thanks to new technology.

That said, certain office habits could have a serious effect on the workplace. Gossip can create a negative workplace environment both in terms of moral and productivity and managers need to be aware of any bullying or reasonable behaviour whether online or around the water cooler.

Psychologist Corinne Sweet said: “To some extent we fear how gossip will spread round the workplace today, especially with the added power and speed of social networking. We like to be in control of what is talked about us, whether at the water cooler or on Facebook, as out-of-control gossip can be damaging to morale and reputation.”

However, she said gossip wasn’t always a negative issue.

“Most of us indulge in tittle-tattle-Tweeting, especially after a few drinks at the Christmas office party. However some gossip can work well, as many long-term romances evolve out of office ‘dos’ at this time of year.”

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