Pen is mightier - News You Can Use - Brief Article

T+D, Sept, 2002

If you want to know what kind of employee someone is, look no further than the top of his or her desk. So says a study by Pilot, one of the largest pen manufacturers in the world.

Want a good employee? Pilot suggests you find a candidate who uses a purple pen. According to the company's research, 85 percent of people who write with purple pens say their bosses are completely satisfied with their work. Compare that to 73 percent of the overall workforce. (We have to wonder, though, whether purple-pen users are just more likely to exaggerate their bosses' opinions of them.)

Do you need to increase retention? Take a hint from the Pilot study: Only 12 percent of people who had six or more pens at their desks said they were looking for another job, compared to 21 percent of the overall workforce.

Whether those numbers are simple correlations or credible data is up to you. More findings:

Most likely to think the boss is nice: Women and men using red pens, both about 85 percent. National average, 71 percent.

Most likely to accidentally take pens home: Men who use purple pens, 77 percent, or red pens, 62 percent. National average, 22 percent.

Most likely to be criticized by the boss: Women who use expensive pens, 12 percent, and men who use purple pens or pencils, 11 percent. National average, 6 percent.

The study surveyed a random sample of 645 U.S. workers via telephone.

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