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Is Hoarding Hurting Your Employees’ Careers?

Being perceived as a hoarder may cost workers a promotion, new CareerBuilder survey shows

It may get you a cameo on a TLC reality show, but hoarding don’t do nothing for your career, y’all.

A new, very scientific survey by CareerBuilder shows hoarding can have a negative impact on your career.  Nearly three-in-ten (28 percent) employers say they are less likely to promote someone who has a disorganized or messy work space.

This doesn’t bode well for the 33 percent of workers – men and women equally – who say they tend to be hoarders. And even though companies have shifted to a more digital workplace, more than half of workers (51 percent) say they still love killing trees have paper files in their office/desk.

But let’s back up a touch, shall we? What exactly makes someone a hoarder? Survey says…

  • 38 percent say that, currently, between 50 to 100 percent of their desk surface is covered with work and other materials, while 16 percent of workers said 75 percent or more of their desk is covered. For shame!!
  • 36 percent of workers say they have paper files from more than a year ago, 13 percent have files that are five years or older and six percent have files dating back more than 10 years. Heathens.

Is it really that big a deal? Well, yes, according to the survey. It seems employers don’t think any more of hoarders than they do of tattooed employees.

Nearly two-in-five employers (38 percent) say piles of paper covering a desk negatively impacted their perception of that person; 27 percent feel they are disorganized, while 16 percent say they are just messy.

Public service announcement: If you or someone you know is a hoarder, there IS help.

Rosemary Haefner, CareerBuilder’s Vice President of Human Resources, offers the following tips to get your work area organized:

  • Schedule time with the office recycle bin –Set a calendar reminder for Friday afternoon to take completed projects to the recycle bin.
  • Work on one project at a time – While you may have 20 things on your “to do” list, prioritize what needs to be done that day when you arrive at work and take care of one project at a time.
  • Don’t be a digital hoarder – Just because nobody else can see your clutter, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, especially in your email boxes. Delete unneeded emails on a weekly basis.

Please, share these tips with a friend or loved one.

Okay, I kid, but do you tend to have the same views as the employers who say they view hoarders as disorganized? If so, are you doing anything to address the situation?

hoarders

Mary Lorenz

About Mary Lorenz

Mary is a copywriter for CareerBuilder, specializing in B2B marketing and corporate recruiting best practices and social media. In addition to creating copy for corporate advertising and marketing campaigns, she researches and writes about employee attraction, engagement and retention. Whenever possible, she makes references to pop culture. Sometimes, those references are even relevant. A New Orleans native, Mary now lives in Chicago, right down the street from the best sushi place in the city. It's awesome.
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  1. Shoes, toys, mugs & more: What do you collect at the workplace? : The Work Buzz says:
    November 2, 2011 at 10:01 am

    [...] what’s okay to have stored at your desk and what isn’t? We learned from the survey that employers had negative perceptions of workers who had Hoarder-like work spaces. Thirty-eight percent of managers said piles of paper [...]

  2. Shoes, toys, mugs & more: What do you collect at the workplace? « Sales and Marketing Jobs says:
    November 2, 2011 at 12:57 pm

    [...] what’s okay to have stored at your desk and what isn’t? We learned from the survey that employers had negative perceptions of workers who had Hoarder-like work spaces. Thirty-eight percent of managers said piles of paper [...]

  3. Shoes, toys, mugs & more: What do you collect at the workplace? « Job Search Engineering says:
    November 2, 2011 at 2:05 pm

    [...] what’s okay to have stored at your desk and what isn’t? We learned from the survey that employers had negative perceptions of workers who had Hoarder-like work spaces. Thirty-eight percent of managers said piles of paper [...]

  4. Shoes, toys, mugs & more: What do you collect at the workplace? » Techie Masala says:
    November 2, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    [...] what’s okay to have stored at your desk and what isn’t? We learned from the survey that employers had negative perceptions of workers who had Hoarder-like work spaces. Thirty-eight percent of managers said piles of paper [...]

  5. Freshers Yaar! » Blog Archive » Shoes, toys, mugs & more: What do you collect at the workplace? says:
    November 3, 2011 at 5:32 am

    [...] what’s okay to have stored at your desk and what isn’t? We learned from the survey that employers had negative perceptions of workers who had Hoarder-like work spaces. Thirty-eight percent of managers said piles of paper [...]

  6. Shoes, toys, mugs & more: What do you collect at the workplace? | Only Delhi Jobs - Delhi's Job Search HQ | Delhi Jobs says:
    November 3, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    [...] what’s okay to have stored at your desk and what isn’t? We learned from the survey that employers had negative perceptions of workers who had Hoarder-like work spaces. Thirty-eight percent of managers said piles of paper [...]

  7. Shoes, toys, mugs & more: What do you collect at the workplace? | City Jobs Blog says:
    November 7, 2011 at 6:10 am

    [...] what’s okay to have stored at your desk and what isn’t? We learned from the survey that employers had negative perceptions of workers who had Hoarder-like work spaces. Thirty-eight percent of managers said piles of paper [...]

  8. Only Bangalore Jobs » Blog Archive » Shoes, toys, mugs & more: What do you collect at the workplace? says:
    November 14, 2011 at 6:25 pm

    [...] what’s okay to have stored at your desk and what isn’t? We learned from the survey that employers had negative perceptions of workers who had Hoarder-like work spaces. Thirty-eight percent of managers said piles of paper [...]

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