Senior Execs Write Their Own Office Rules

Businesswoman at desk smiiling at businessman

Business professionals at the level of senior executive or above are more likely to describe work as “fun” over “just a job,” according to an Office Pulse survey.

 

Office attitudes change when employees reach senior-executive levels. Senior-level employees are more likely than their junior counterparts to have fudged their resumes, “angry-quit,” and been involved in an office romance, according to a recent Office Pulse study of 1,158 office professionals, including 53 senior and C-level executives.

30% of senior executives are secretly job searching, the highest percentage among all management levels surveyed. Overall, 16% of business professionals said they were secretly looking for a new form of employment.

Additionally, senior executives were more likely to make a rash decision and quit over a conflict, the study found. 28% of them said they’ve “angry-quit” from a job in the past. That’s more than senior managers (5%), middle managers (8%) and junior managers (10%). However, around 1 in 5 junior, middle and senior managers admitted to coming “close” to angry-quitting, suggesting professionals get more confident about making this bold change as they move up the ladder.

0%
of senior executives described work as “fun.”
0%
of business professionals described work as “fun.”

With that said, most senior executives did describe “work” as “fun” (57%) when asked what work means to them, a much higher rate than their colleagues. Just 35% of professionals overall called work ‘fun,’ with the majority calling it “just a paycheck.”

Most business professionals seemed to have high ethical standards, with just 4% admitting to lying on their resume in the past. However, that number jumps to 21% among senior execs who admitted to a falsity on their resume.

Other senior executive insights include:

  • 53% believe lunchtime meetings are okay, even if lunch isn’t provided. Just 25% of all workers agreed.
  • 45% have had an office romance, compared to just 25% of all business professionals.
  • 55% said they ‘rarely’ bring a lunch to work.

Overwhelmingly, senior executives were most likely among their colleagues to travel a few times a week for work: 1 in 4 senior executives do so, compared to just 6% of senior managers. And when senior execs are in the office, most are secluded from their colleagues. 68% said they have a private office – the most out of any management group. Surprisingly, they still want more personal space, with 40% saying the number one change they’d make to their office would be adding more personal space. Possibly related? 1 in 4 senior execs described socializing outside work with colleagues as “my idea of a nightmare.”

About Office Pulse

Office Pulse by Captivate offers marketers timely analysis and insights from a proprietary panel of upscale professionals in the top markets. The Office Pulse panel of more than 8,000 influential consumers and business decision makers includes C-level executives, Millennials, middle management, small business owners, working women and working moms.

About Captivate

Known for its vast network of nearly 12,000 elevator displays located in 1,600 premier office buildings across North America, Captivate connects advertisers with 13 million unique monthly viewers through creative, research-driven and Nielsen-measured advertising and marketing programs. By engaging its viewers with timely news and actionable information that helps balance the personal and professional demands of the workday, Captivate provides advertisers with a highly desirable and difficult-to-reach audience of affluent and influential business professionals. Founded in 1997, Captivate is owned by Generation Partners. For more information, please visit www.captivate.com.