EMPLOYEES IN IRELAND have identified laziness, moodiness and loudness as three of the habits in co-workers that they dislike the most according to a study published today.

A survey for the tech giant Microsoft as part of Work Wherever Wednesday has identified that over 60 per cent of employees hate lazy colleagues, over half hate colleagues who are moody and nearly 50 per cent hate co-workers who are loud in the workplace.

The survey of 300 executives and workers in Ireland was carried out by Amárach Research for Microsoft as part of the Work Wherever Wednesday initiative which is encouraging employers to allow workers to work at home or another place of their choosing away from the office today.

Other vices identified by employees included co-workers who gossiped, loud mobile phones, nose picking, entering without knocking and colleagues who hum during work.

The full breakdown of annoying habits that employees identified in co-workers were:

63 per cent hate lazy colleagues

56 per cent hate moody colleagues

45 per cent hate talking colleagues

37 per cent hate gossiping co-workers

19 per cent hate when colleagues mobile phones are not set to silent

18 per cent hate colleagues who nose pick

16 per cent hate colleagues who enter without knocking

13 per cent hate it when colleagues hum at work

Asked what they felt their own worst habits were, employees identified moodiness, volume and feeling like they are perfect as three of their worst working habits.

Office habits that employees admired in their colleagues included collaboration (49 per cent), multitasking (47 per cent), time keeping (37 per cent), and good interaction with clients (37 per cent).

Nearly 60 per cent of employees said they were at their most productive when they were in the office early while just under half said they were at their most productive or inspired when they were at home.

Nearly 40 per cent of employees said that family time is as valuable as a pay rise while 38 per cent said they wished their employers gave them feedback, both positive and negative.

Mobile phone company O2, Bank of Ireland, Insomnia coffee shop and HP are among the companies getting involved in the Microsoft-organised Work Wherever Wednesday today.