The 10 most hated office buzzwords

Buzz words are commonly used in the office, we all know the ones that annoy us. 70.9% of employees are dismissing the concept of a buzzword heavy office, saying they are irrelevant, with 74.1% feeling that people only use them to sound intelligent.

Just over a third (34.7%) of professionals admitted to using buzzwords, but they might as well refrain from doing so, as 40.7% of workers said they would judge a colleague who had a buzzword-heavy vocabulary. 42.6% claim that they would be put off from a company that used a lot of buzzwords.

However, marketing, design and electronics employees are keeping these cringe-worthy phases alive in the workplace, with 62.5% admitting to using them. In addition, workers in Edinburgh were most likely to use buzzwords with just under half (43.2%) declaring they do, followed by Birmingham (39%) and London (38.9%). 

Lee Biggibns, Founder and Managing Director of CV Library, comments: “It’s unsurprising to see that buzzwords are falling away from the UK workplace. With clear and concise communication, the number one priority for many companies across the country, it’s understandable that more and more workers are growing agitated with buzzword focussed environments. While technical knowledge and understanding is extremely important to help drive UK businesses forward, there needs to be a clear differentiation between technical terminology and everyday buzzwords.”  The survey on 1,000 UK workers also revealed that over a third (36.8%) had particular buzzwords or phrases that they really wanted to buzz off out of the workplace.

Top 10 most hated office buzzwords:

1. Let’s touch base – 40.2%
2. Thinking outside the box – 38.9%
3. How long is a piece of string – 28.4%
4. Run it up the flag pole – 28.2%
5. Thought shower – 27.5%
6. Ping me – 25.6%
7. It’s a no brainer – 25.1%
8. Park this – 24.9%
9. FYI – 24.2%
10. Get all your ducks in a row – 23%

Biggins concludes: “Clearly, both personal and corporate presentation is imperative to ensure continued success in business. With many workers across the UK disassociating themselves from buzzword heavy colleagues and companies, cultivating a simple work environment should be at the top of both professionals and businesses to-do lists. “Ensuring that your workplace is an inviting and encouraging environment should be number one priority in any company to encourage the top talent to your business.”

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Link to HR Grapevine article that featured this Top 10 & survey: https://www.hrgrapevine.com/content/article/news-2017-04-12-uk-workers-think-buzzwords-are-irrelevant-and-are-only-used-to-sound-intelligent