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Research Outline

Prepared for Katherine B. | Delivered March 14, 2020

Common Personal Care Items in an Office Setting

Goals

To provide a list of the most common personal care (non-food) items employees (he/she/their) have at work for personal use that they provide to include: What is the importance of brand with these items or will any brand do? and What is the relative importance of food items by comparison? in order to identify opportunities to provide the personal items vs. the employee bringing them to work and paying for them independently.

To provide insights on what common personal care items employers provide to their employees and what employees desire for an employer to provide in order to identify opportunities to provide the personal items vs. the employee bringing them to work and paying for them independently.

To provide insights into any legislation, rules, or regulations that could impact what common personal care items employees can bring or employers can provide to employees in an office setting in order to identify opportunities to provide the personal items vs. the employee bringing them to work and paying for them independently.

Early Findings

Our research on common personal care items that employees bring to an office setting revealed insights. Here are key pieces of information we found:

Common Personal Care Items in an Office Setting

That an Employee Brings:

  • Responses to the question: "What personal items should I really keep at my desk at work?" of a survey of employees for common personal care items were as follows: A Sewing Kit; Deodorant; Nail Clippers; Nail File; Gum or Mints; Hard Candy; Toothbrush/Toothpaste; Floss; Stamps; Envelopes; Greeting Cards; Safety Pins; Lint Roller; Q-Tips; Chapstick; Hand Sanitizer; Disinfectant Wipes; Face Wipes; Hair Pins, Clips, or Bands; Pain Relievers (Tylenol brand mentioned); Antacids (Tums and Alka-Seltzer brands mentioned); Anti-Diarrheal (Pepto-Bismol brand mentioned); Anti-Gas (Gas-X brand mentioned); Eyedrops; Band-Aids; Tampons; Kleenex; Cough Drops; A Mug; Clear Nail Polish; Clothing Stain Remover (Tide brand mentioned); Umbrella; Single-Serve Packets of Seasonings; Paper Towels/Napkins; and Disposable Utensils.
  • Specific to clothing, common personal care items that employees bring to their office setting are: a sweater/cardigan, jacket, an extra shirt, an extra pair of shoes, pantyhose, socks, underwear, and a complete extra outfit.
  • Bringing personal food items is just as important for employees and is included as frequently as personal care items. Many employees prefer to have home-cooked meals at work for health, dietary or financial reasons, and it also saves time rather than having to go out to a restaurant. Common personal food items that employees bring to their office setting include: favorite brands of tea and coffee, bottled water, healthy snacks, peanut butter, canned foods that do not require a can opener like soups, and microwavable items like popcorn.