Clear desk policy or “no Linda you don’t need 10 teddies on your desk you’re a 42 year old woman”

[Strafficy]

I’m at the end of 2 weeks annual leave and clearing out emails.

Member of the team has taken the opportunity of me not being there to start an email thread with my boss about my clear desk policy and how unhappy she is. Boss rather bemused and “can you talk to XXX when she returns”

I started 6 mths ago and have asked all staff in my division to have a clear desk for a number of reasons

1. piles of paperwork everywhere some of it years old and I want them out of the habit of printing everything (one member of staff was printing all their emails!)

2. We are supposed to hot desk and it isn’t fair on part timers when they come in to sit at someone’s desk when it’s piled high with family photos/teddies/half eaten bowls of cereal

3. Frankly some of them are bloody unorganised and needed a kick up the arse

4. confidential information left all over the desk for anyone to see

This staff member has done nothing but complain about it since day 1. I’ve had just about enough now

@GreyhoundG1rl

Why would it be a problem? Unless the clerk asks the teddies for advice - now that would be weird. Because like my friend Teletubby Woman, I'd find it hard to take someone who took their comforters to work at all seriously.

Well yes, that's my thoughts. Teddies need to stay at home really.

We had a clear desk policy but could pin up things. We also had the option of putting stuff into our lockable drawer so we were allowed it on our desks during the day. I don't think you're being unreasonable but offer a tiny bit of flexibility. Data protection means anything work-related should be locked away at the end of the day.

@caspersmagicaljourney

I would recommend reiterating the clear desk policy once again, clearly and in writing taking the opportunity to make it crystal clear that failure to comply with the policy will result in a disciplinary. As a manager you then need to be very firm to ensure compliance happens. Report progress back to your manager at least once a week so she knows you mean business. At least then if this approach fails your manager should support you and take the appropriate action. Good luck!

She can only do that if it’s company policy. It doesn’t sound as if it is, it looks to me as if it’s OP’s personal policy, hence the lack of support from her manager.

Ugh I’d hate to have to keep cleaning some randomers desk, waste time putting my homely and useful bits on it (you know like post it notes, a photo, favourite notebook, quick reference codes, info etc).

Sounds unfriendly and cold as a workplace.
So glad I don’t have to hotdesk it sounds miserable.

I’d rip any staff member a new one who left confidential information out though.

People eating at desks is a tad grim. Haven’t we moved on from 1995??

My place has a clear desk policy. For gdpr and for fire hazards. People still have bits and bobs on their desks because it's not a soulless prison we are grown ups.

The only person who gives a shit is a joyless c*. She once went round after hours collecting things into bin bags and sent an email round about what she'd found

Interestingly enough she only did it the once, there was no follow up and it was never spoken about again.

What's unprofessional about having a teddy on my desk? Should I also not wear lipstick or earrings lest my personality be displayed? Give over.

I work in the City and pre-covid you'd see desks stacked with all sorts of stuff. Printouts, photos, souvenirs from team events, awards (my industry loves awards), phone chargers, water bottles, protein power, merch... one office I worked in had a team collection of bobble-heads. These are people on high 5 and 6 figure packages.

So the idea that people with successful careers don't have messy desks and personal tat is just wrong. Of course companies might mandate clean desks for various good reasons but it really isn't an indicator of an employee's ability or value.

What's unprofessional about having a teddy on my desk?

What do you need the teddy for? Why do you need a cuddly toy at work? I can't understand the thought process. How does a teddy convey your personality, it's not the same as earrings or lipstick in any way. Unless I suppose they are Mickey Mouse earrings or something.

Looking forward to my next account review

I have no issue with a clear desk policy. But if my current employer tried to implement it I would have an issue whilst they still archive by printing off all the order information off the servers to scan it back it in to a different server and then shred it all. Bloody idiots.

So I guess other people (maybe the extroverts?) feel totally safe and at home at work without a teddy or favourite mug to keep them company?

@Sparklingbrook OK I will answer I am an introvert. I find the office psychologically draining, physically uncomfortable and emotionally abrasive. Seeing my teddy on my desk reminds me life isn't all as awful as that. I am enough, I am a good person, I am trying my best. I don't want to turn into a corporate psychopath. I want to stay warm and human. My teddy reminds me of that. It's not ostentatious, only key ring sized. But it means so much to me.

I commend those who can survive office life without a teddy or at least a pen with a fluffy pom pom on the end or a mug with a cat on

@OooPourUsACupLove that is reassuring. I have been promoted twice with aforementioned teddy on my desk. I attribute my success in part to teddy's psychological support. Who I will not describe, it would be outing

@Sparklingbrook

What's unprofessional about having a teddy on my desk?

What do you need the teddy for? Why do you need a cuddly toy at work? I can't understand the thought process. How does a teddy convey your personality, it's not the same as earrings or lipstick in any way. Unless I suppose they are Mickey Mouse earrings or something.

The teddy doesn't need to be "for" anything. It could be as simple as it was given to them by a client or a work colleague.

A colleague of mine had a ceramic frog. Would mean nothing to anyone who didn't work through a particularly manic period one year in our department and was given to her by our manager as a bit of an in joke.

I remember working for a company where the MD had photos of his wife on his desk.
She worked in the office down the corridor and had photos of him everywhere.
Two colleagues with messy chaotic desks were forever “ losing” sets of client notes, raising a panicky alarms and getting others to search for them. These disorganised desk dwellers were causing totally unnecessary drama and wasting other people’s time.

@SweatyBetty20

Get your office cleaner on board. Everything that’s left behind is cleared into a bag and you have to go through it (and other people’s shite) to get it back. Rinse and repeat.

Absolutely not the cleaners responsibility to sort this one out. That's not what they're there for! I am not a cleaner however I am in facilities management and this is not their responsibility to do this. As soon as something gets lost it's always their fault!

The bank counter example is a bit different to a typical closed office. Businesses tend to show a more formal face to customers and other third parties. Behind the scenes, I wouldn’t be at all surprised or shocked if bank staff with desks had personal items around and related to each other differently to how they do me as a customer. Certainly in my company I can think of individuals with tonnes of what I would consider junk on their desks, and they’re perfectly professional with customers. A lot of it is bonding too - silly notes that are in-jokes between colleagues. As long as they aren’t offensive to anyone, this seems to me to indicate the type of camaraderie we’re told is so important to go into the office for.

And actually, teddy bears wouldn’t put me off if they were on view in a bank. All that really matters is that the service is efficient and the staff pleasant.

It's a shame that so many offices are dirty, crowded, poorly ventilated, badly lit, uncomfortable and downright unpleasant environments to work in. I think the pandemic has really drawn attention to this and so many people don't want to go back to full time office work. I don't blame them.

I agree with you. I cant stand cluttered/grubby/inappropriately decked out desks.

Our junior admin (30 years old) has gonk pens, a unicorn head pen, a stuffed fish and a teddy on her desk. This is in addition to a box of cereal which lives at the side of her desk, despite her having three pedestals and a fully fitted out kitchen a few feet away.

Thankfully, we never have clients in our office.

Sort of connected. Have you ever picked up a shared office keyboard and tapped it down on a desk? Not pretty what comes out. 😔

@Boatonthehorizon

You spend most of your life at work. Work used to be fun but nowadays its like a totalitarian state.

Ain't that the truth

I’m an office cleaner and I can say it’s a complete nightmare and so time-consuming to have to keep moving everyone’s bits & bobs…photo frames, teddies, vases, sweet bowls, snacks etc etc

One company I worked for (years ago now) would do a security sweep each night and remove any laptops left lying on desks unsecured or anything confidential. You would then have to queue up next morning at the security desk, with your company ID card, to reclaim the items, and sign for them. Leaving stuff like this on your desk against clear desk policy could affect your annual appraisal so you soon learned! 🌹

I don't really believe in the wonders of having everything onscreen. It's so much quicker to have that list of phone numbers pinned up in front of me than to have to bring it up on the computer when I'm in the middle of working on something.

@Gwenhwyfar

" Easy to have out at your desk and lock away at the end of the day."

Lock up where if you're hot desking? Will you definitely have lockers or will you have to carry that with you every day on top of the laptop as my friend has been told she'll have to do?

If you don't have lockers/drawers, a paper diary doesn't weigh a lot and will fit into a laptop bag. When I was hybrid WFH/ working in the office without an allocated desk, my paper diary went with me everywhere in my laptop bag.

I did something similar to the poster above. I managed an office which dealt with all manner of things including pay and HR matters. When I took over, I implemented a clean desk policy because we dealt with a lot of confidential info. I also asked that sensitive info be put out of sight when leaving the office for more than a few minutes, and locked away securely at the end of the day, out of sight of contract cleaners etc.

I had been on leave for a couple of days, and came in early to catch up, so was first in. There was paperwork everywhere, so I cleared it all into a bag and said nothing. Made myself scarce until everyone arrived - by which time there was quiet panic - and then we had a conflab about the items in the bag. I was shocked at the casual way confidential info had been left lying about and livid that my instructions had been ignored in my absence. Warnings were issued about the requirements of the data protection act, and the disciplinary action to follow if there were any further problems. Everyone got on board after that.

OP - what’s the line management policy in your office and are you responsible for staff reporting etc ? I’d be bloody annoyed if someone who reported to me waited for my absence and then went above my head to moan about a policy I’d implemented - it suggests a lack of respect for your authority and the fact that an email trail has been left for you to see is even worse. You need to make it clear that the buck stops with you, and YOU decide what matters are taken higher.

I would usually conform to all office rules - I'm not a rebel of any sort but I'd be as difficult about this as I possibly could be. I'd put everything away at the end of the day but every morning I'd get out all my stuff and liberally coat my desk in it. I'm in a creative industry and I need my stuff around me to inspire me - there's no way I could produce creative work at a sterile desk which says nothing about me. The stuff that you hate is the stuff that helps me to work and produce the designs that are needed. I would NEVER work anywhere that required me to hot desk - EVER.