Don’t dump on colleagues

Assuming you share it, there are certain standards of behaviour I hope you maintain. After all, respect for colleagues is important.

But it is not something they seem to have at the Financial Conduct Authority.

The City watchdog moved into new offices in east London about 18 months ago.

Is that the kind of office you would like to work in?

The £60m building is in Stratford, on the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

But chief operating officer Georgina Philippou felt compelled to write recently to the 4,000 workers housed in the building about “distasteful and shameful” behaviour.

In the letter posted on the regulator’s staff intranet, she reported a stream of bad behaviour including the relatively tame “leaving cutlery and crockery in the kitchen areas” and “overflowing bins”. But some of the behaviour was much worse than that.

The letter went on to list crimes such as “stealing plants and charging cables from desks, catering and security teams being subject to verbal abuse, colleagues defecating on the floor in toilet cubicles, urinating on the floor in the men’s toilets and leaving alcohol bottles in sanitary bins.”

Is that the kind of office you would like to work in? Me neither.

Ms Philippou is of a like mind. She wrote: “This kind of behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated here.”

The FCA told the Evening Standard, which broke the story, that: “judging from the feedback, our staff agree [that this sort of behaviour is unacceptable].”

But clearly not all staff agree. Some felt it necessary to behave badly in the first place.

And evidence quickly emerged that the regulator was not alone in being hit by filthy actions by workers.

The global accountancy firm KPMG was forced to warn staff about their conduct last year.

In an email to workers at its Reading office, bosses warned: “We have had some incidents recently where the first floor accessible toilet sink is being used as a toilet.

“This is not the behaviour we expect from KPMG staff.”

I should hope not.

I spoke to KPMG about the incident and a spokesperson told me: “Where there is behaviour that falls short of the standards we expect we are quick to call it out.”

I do not know about you, but I have seen plenty of anti-social behaviour in offices over the years.

Eating smelly food at desks is one particular bugbear, and I hated working late at one national newspaper where the night staff would regularly order in curries.

So I was interested to read of a related court case last week, in which an Essex commuter was fined £750 and ordered to pay £750 costs after flying into a rage over another passenger’s 6am breakfast of boiled eggs “which gave off a strong smell”.

I cannot defend the angry traveller’s rage, but I can understand her anger.

Being forced to endure other people’s stinky food is unpleasant.

And in an office there is often no escape from folk who seem to feel it necessary to chow down on their hot breakfast, lunch or tea at their desk.

I have always assumed it is done by people who feel the need to prove that they are so busy they can not spare five minutes away from their work-station.

Do not get me wrong, I am often guilty of eating a sandwich at my desk.

But it is the hot meal munchers that spread an odour across the office that can often be quite unpleasant.

I have in the past felt compelled to ask colleagues to take their malodorous meals away, and when alerted to the smell they have apologised and moved to a kitchen area to finish their repast.

But we should all be more considerate of fellow workers without needing to be reminded.

The fact that major organisations such as the FCA and KPMG have to send warning messages to staff suggests that the problem is pretty widespread.

Indeed, talking to fellow journalists about the issue, one reported a similar unpleasant toilet experience being experienced at the offices of a national news group.

What drives people to such anti-social behaviour?

One colleague reckons it could be the actions of highly pressured workers who do not have an adequate outlet of expression at their jobs.

Consequently they turn to anonymous scatological protests.

I am not sure about that, but it is good to highlight objectionable behaviour to help remind us all what is acceptable at work.

With that in mind it is time for me to admit to my own bad behaviour in a workplace.

Many years ago I used to play football in the office with some of the other reporters after our publication had been put to bed.

Such high-jinks seemed fun and were certainly an enjoyable outlet after the stresses of the day.

But I know now that the behaviour was reprehensible.

What bad behaviour, if any, have you got up to in the office?

Simon Read is a freelance journalist