Are you in a cubicle devoid of personal effects, or do you have a massive desk and a window overlooking rolling fields with more family photos, papers and inspiring quotes found on your everyday (or perhaps overseas!) travels that you can shake a stick at? Or does it fall somewhere in between like mine? My desk overlooks Maidenhead railway station, which isn’t too inspiring, although my four year old son would consider it heaven. I can bring in as many photos from home as I choose, and usually have a tall glass of water on hand – just to keep up the health kick – as well as a coffee cup, which immediately cancels out the health benefits of the water.

But why do I ask? Well, Ambius (one of the Rentokil Initial divisions) offers internal and external landscaping and scenting and they have funded scientific research which confirms what we instinctively already knew… When you are allowed to personalise your working space (using plants or images for example, hence linking back to Ambius), you are happier at work and therefore more productive. I was lucky enough to be at some of the kick-off meetings when PRISM first started working for R&D at Felcourt when I first joined the company. I interviewed Craig Knight, the lead researcher for the PhD project, to find out a bit more.

DJ: So Craig, it’s been a while since we last talked, what have you been up to recently?

CK: Well, Craig from PRISM (or “prison” as a lot of people often mishear) is soon to be no more. We will soon be relaunching the company as Identity Realisation (or IDR for short). We have got loads of projects on the go. For example, a major car manufacturer wants to investigate how they can make their connecting portacabins each have their own colleague inspired colour and style whilst retaining some kind of corporate stamp.

DJ: But how did you get into this area of research and get funding from RI, what’s your background?

CK: I previously worked in Office Design for several companies, working my way up as I went. Mike Lothian approved a CASE award (industry sponsorship for a PhD) and we kind of grew from there as the working group PRISM (now IDR).  I took this interest into academia at the University of Exeter.

DJ: Can you see every office being “IDR’d” in the future then?

CK: Well people already personalise their space at home when they own it. When you rent a property you are limited to what you can do, similarly in some office environments. Our research has linked office design to productivity and employee morale.  Similar studies using artwork with older adults in care have shown a causal link between personalized space and well-being.

DJ: Oh yes, I remember you mentioning that. Tell me more…

CK: If you think of the artwork that typically hangs in an old people’s home it tends to be fairly uninspiring stuff.  Yet there is research that suggests that as older people’s eyesight gets worse they enjoy more vivid paintings or an image such as those that Ambius provide as part of their Art offering (See an example below).

DJ: That makes perfect sense, maybe I can give you the details of the nursing home my Granny is at! Where are you based now, still at the University of Exeter?

CK: Yes, I’m an Honorary Research Fellow now and trying to bridge the gap between commerce and academia, still occasionally working with Alex (Professor Alex Haslam). I’m happy working on fully blown international projects and scaled down local consultancy type projects. IDR can now offer quantitative scales which gauge people’s perception about how empowered they feel in their own office space. Employee engagement is critical in terms of productivity, identity and general well-being.

DJ: What one main thing do you feel you have learnt either professionally or personally then following your significant PhD research?

CK: (Chuckles.)  Well professionally, I need to reign back from professing expertise. Offering improvement is far better than expertise. And personally that there is always so much more to learn and understand.

DJ: Just one last nosey question from me, how long was your PhD viva? I have yet to find someone’s that lasted longer than mine (mine was four hours).

CK: Two and half hours, so not too long. The PhD also led to a few papers published in well regarded journals (including Scientific American, Ageing & Society and the Journal of Experimental Psychology) so all that hard work seems worthwhile .

DJ: Well, thanks so much for your time Craig; I know you’re a very busy man giving lectures on this massive and extremely fascinating subject. I think we have barely skimmed the surface, so if anyone wants to hear more from Craig ask him some questions here on the blog and we’ll get the answers for you. We can also do a follow up interview if we have enough interest. Or if you want, tweet or FB us some photos of your office space!

How Personalised is Your Personal Office Space? is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

Ambius have offered some top tips for keeping real trees alive, most of which I used to do. I  say used to, because until this year I have always been in the real tree enthusiasts group. The smell of a pine tree when you come into the house is so evocative of Christmas. I love it!

However, a few weeks ago off I went and bought a faux “6 foot pine with snow tipped branches”. Why the change of heart after years and years of having a real tree? Mainly because of the one year old I have at home – he is into everything, and his Dad and I figured there would be less damage to a fake tree when (not if!) he pulls it over. Also, I won’t have to worry about him eating the needles. Plus there won’t be the usual mess on 6^th January when it comes down, with pine needles being found for months afterwards. Or the repetitive cost each year. Or the bugs.

Yes, the bugs. We have always bought our tree from the local Christmas Tree Farm. Whereas my parents would leave it outdoors for a day or two to let the bugs drop off, I forgot about this part of the process and so it came indoors straight after purchase. The following morning we had bugs-a-plenty crawling about the living room floor. There were some odd-looking beetles, several woodlice and spiders. Lots of spiders. And you know how much I hate them and other pests such as wasps!

So with the tree all sparkly and decorated, here are Ambius’ top tips for the perfect Christmas tree:

1. Use the same colour palette for decorations to create a modern appearance. (Well our tree decs are definitely NOT of one colour. They are brought from places we have been on holiday, made – porcelain hand decorated tree right near the top was made by a very enthusiastic 2 yr old at the time.)
2. A living tree is ideal – if you water it, you can re-pot it and have a tree ready to use next Christmas. (Great idea, more eco-friendly and cost efficient than binning and buying a new one each year.)
3. Don’t dismiss replica trees because you love the scent of a real tree – there are Christmas scents available. (Aha, this point solves a big problem for me regarding fake trees.)
4. A real Nordman Fir or Scots pine are good options as they tend to drop less needles.  Make sure the branches show no signs of stress (such as brown needles) and are soft and flexible. (We always picked one with thick needles for precisely that reason.)
5. Keep your tree cool outside, preferably undercover and in water until you are ready to bring it indoors. (Ahem, you learn from your mistakes.)
6. Remove 2cm off the base to aid water absorption – so less needles will drop. (Oops, never did this specifically. Bottom was only sawn off if it was too tall for our living room.)
7. Make sure the stand has enough room to add water. (We always kept our trees watered, definitely helped keep the needles attached for longer.)
8. Place the base of the tree in a large plastic bag and disguise with presents – then lift over the tree when it’s ready to be recycled, catching any needles in the process. (Hmm, wish I’d known about this idea, its fab!)
9. Homes are hot places for trees so to give your tree as much life as possible, keep it away from radiators or fireplaces. (Well, the only place suitable for our tree has always been next to the radiator, hopefully the draught from the old badly sealed patio doors compensated!)

So there we some pros and cons for real and artificial trees. Any others missing from the list? Which team do you support? Team fake or team real?

Real Tree Or Fake Tree At Christmas? is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

The discovery of a “Rentokil Van Parked Outside the School” poem inspired me to write this post.  A Rentokil Initial van is pictured, but I can understand the confusion regarding all of the Rentokil Initial sub-brands (ooh, now that’s a future blog post idea!). Anyway, I would love to know which pest the story is narrated by. I have left a comment asking the author. My money is on a rat!

Now, back to the main theme of this post. Prior to working here I believed (quite wrongly as it turns out) that if a Rentokil van is parked outside any building,  it meant BAD news for both the establishment and me as a customer. I have since learned that quite the reverse is true. (I have ALSO learned: to search out restaurants with high scores on the doors ratings; only enjoy a coffee if there are visible fly control units as I know the food will  have been prepared in a clean environment; and when I go and stay in a hotel I have to check the room for bedbugs. As usual, I digress…)

An experienced pest control technician could be there for one of two reasons:

1. He could be there as part of his contracted visiting schedule. This is part of our preventative pest control program and involves a thorough check of the site to ensure no activity has occurred between today and his last visit. I say he but there are women that work in pest control too. If any pest activity has taken place then the appropriate pest control treatment will be laid and any repairs recommended, e.g. broken fly screen, holes in brickwork, unruly hedges which need cutting back, etc.
2. He could be there to solve a problem. Before a pest problem becomes an infestation, our technicians will come and review the situation and recommend a course of action with effective and innovative pest control products.

So next time you see a Rentokil van parked outside your favourite local takeaway, breathe a sigh of relief that they are there at all. I now stop and think of all the other premises that don’t take their pest control responsibilities towards customers seriously. On a final note, a question for you to consider: Where is the strangest place you have seen a Rentokil van?

I Saw a Rentokil Van Parked… is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

Many of the above comments I’ve used from Facebook postings I read yesterday. Personally, I used it as a day where my eldest son could go to nursery dressed in a cute pumpkin top – and also to explain that all the costumes he had seen in the shops, on TV, etc. are actually make believe and nothing to be scared of. He didn’t win the boys best fancy dress outfit – that went to another child who went in a full on skeleton outfit complete with face mask, and the girls prize was won by Little Miss Muffet complete with spider attached to her shoulder. My son also had great fun carving a pumpkin up with his Dad, well two actually – see the picture above. One had a happy face and one had a sad face. I even managed to get in a lesson about not playing with matches and candles – ever the educational parent, me.

My email inbox was awash with Halloween inspired posts yesterday, but my favourite was this one which linked Trick-or-Treating to inbound marketing. What great advice – sadly I wasn’t able to practise any of it as no-one knocked at our door, but that’s probably because we played it safe. We kept the outside light off, and the pumpkins went round to Grandma’s rather than being placed on the doorstep. I think you have to expect visitors if you dress your house up for Halloween, like our over the road neighbours did. They had the largest ghost costume plastered to their front door I have ever seen - I bet they had visitors all night. I am also very pleased that no-one egged my car like last year. I didn’t notice it until a sticky mess smeared across the rear window when I used the windscreen wiper on my way to work. Cleaning raw egg off my car proved to be even harder than removing bird poo!

So now, what to do with all the lollipops we bought, you know, just in case? Generally, they’d be eaten at home but this year I will be donating them to charity. How about you?

Got Any Leftover Sweets From Trick-or-Treating? is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear (insert your name),
Happy Birthday to you.

How long did it take you to sing those two verses? Were you humming out loud as you mentally read the words? I have to be honest, I am getting a trifle bored of that tune. Why? Because of what I read on the BBC coverage of the Global Handwashing Day research issued earlier this month. The piece suggested that you should “wash your hands for the length of time it takes to sing two verses of Happy Birthday”. 

So it appears that I wasn’t doing it for long enough. My three year old, however, spends ages washing his hands. He proudly informed me the other day that there were “37 squirts of handwash in the bottle”. I was very proud of him for counting up to 37, but the sink was full of bubbles and the handwash dispenser was empty. I am also trying to explain to him about not wasting water by running the tap, I think it is finally getting through now.

The outcome is that I have been singing Happy Birthday every day since. That was even before the hardcore birthday season started in my house on Friday with my 1 year old’s birthday, my dad’s today and mine next week. It ends in February with my nephew’s 18th, and there are 9 other family birthdays in between. Plus we have Christmas smack bang in the middle, so it’s an expensive time of year for me – but I digress totally …

Back on subject. The advice given on the Global Handwashing Day website is to:

1. Use enough water to just cover your hands,
2. Lather for 20 (!) seconds and
3. Rinse under running water.

One of the main messages from the campaign is that washing your hands is THE simplest, yet most effective, way to stop the spread of health harming bacteria. It is vitally important in countries where efficient sanitation is not as easily accessible as here in the UK.

So, what new fact have you learnt this month that has made you change a daily habit? (Not necessarily involving singing. Or the bathroom.)

Sing Happy Birthday To You After Using The Loo is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

When I first heard these mentioned I have to admit I did a double take and questioned if I had heard correctly. Poo Maps? As in maps with poo on them (how, why) or maps of poo (err how, why)? Well, the latter is closer to the truth.

October the 15th each year is Global Handwashing Day and this year Initial Washroom Solutions, part of the Rentokil Initial group of companies, is one of the proud co-sponsors. But back to the poo maps. You’re intrigued now aren’t you?

Anyway, along with the normal PR that global initiatives bring, this time a few alternative studies took place. Basically, researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary, University of London traveled the length and breadth of the UK and did some hand swabs to see what kind of bacteria people are unwittingly walking around with.

It appears that washing your hands after you go to the toilet is no longer the first and most obvious thing to do. The findings of the study showed that although 95% of people said they washed their hands with soap where possible, 82% of hands had bacteria on them as did 92% of phones.

Hmm, so if you don’t wash your hands after using the toilet, the bacteria passes from your hands to whatever you end up touching. In this example your mobile phone. Yuk.

Worryingly, 16% of hands and 16% of phones were also found to harbour E. coli which is a bacteria of a faecal origin. Hence the poo maps created for results up and down the UK. So approximately 1 in 6 mobile phones contain bacteria that can be found in poo. So if you are currently sat with or near to 5 other people, which mobile phone is THAT one?

I think the moral of this blog post is very clear: WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER USING THE TOILET.

Global Handwashing Day – Poo Maps is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

I had extra time in my work diary today as a team meeting got cancelled. Which led me to thinking about what I would have been presenting. Which reminded me of Buzzword Bingo, yes - I do go off on a tangent. Which reminded me of the game I spotted on Twitter via @mmkmedia. Download it as a pdf here, in case you want to play Social Lingo Bingo yourself.

All 25 examples should be familiar to those involved in Social Media (SM). But how many do you know? Would you have called “Full House” at the meeting if playing? I knew 23. My excuse for not knowing about Kenneth Cole is that I was totally wrapped up in my maternity leave bubble when the situation occurred earlier this year. I also hadn’t heard of the Dr Pepper example. So here is the list and my one-liner (or sometimes more) descriptions for any newbies to SM.

Buzz – As in Google Buzz, where you can start conversations about the things you find interesting by sharing updates, photos, videos and more with your friends. No, I don’t use it either.

Web 2.0 – Describes web applications that assist with online information sharing and collaboration, i.e. all social networking type sites.

Kenneth Cole – Caused controversy when he made a crass comment on Twitter regarding the Egyptian protests earlier this year.

ROI – A thorny subject this, defending social media resources and costs with respect to return on investment.

Old Spice – This is a brilliant example of the personalisation that can be achieved with a SM campaign, check out the Old Spice You Tube channel.

Dell – Fantastic. Online. Customer. Service. Need I say more?

Habitat – Remembered for their Twitter fail. The furniture maker jumped on the Twitter bandwagon by using hashtags like like #Iran and #Mousavi to promote their business at the time of crisis in Iran.

Dr Pepper – This was about an ad campaign which went hideously wrong when the advertising agency used inappropriate content. To win a prizen fans used an app allowing the brand to take over their online status updates. Won’t give mroe specifics, but it included a porn reference. You can easily find it online if you’re keen to know more.

Stephen Fry – 3.1m followers on Twitter and counting… one of the most followed UK celebrities.

Twitterati – The Twitter elite, who are followed by thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of followers.

Accelerate growth – Not just applicable to SM, we all want to accelerate growth in all areas of business.

Content Marketing – I think it is fair to say that all online marketing is content marketing, i.e. content prepared for the purpose of engaging current and future customers.

Measurability – Another one of those terms linked to the ROI of social media. Are you able to measure your progress and achievements?

Benchmark – Yes we have to Benchmark in SM too.

Monetise – There are many blogs out there which are monetised, but deBugged is NOT going to be selling advertising space. Ever.

Authentic – As in an authentic tone of voice for all SM communications.

Leverage – The best way to use Social Media for achieving success firstly in engaging your audience and secondly building brand awareness.

Community – The people engaging with your online message.

Platform – Which SM platform are you present on? Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn? Others?

Crowdsource – The act of sourcing tasks traditionally performed by individuals to a large group or crowd of people.

Domino’s – An example of a brand who listened to its customers and ran a Pizza Turnaround campaign to understand why they were continuously getting negative feedback about their pizzas.

Blogosphere – Anyone who blogs, or reads blogs, or leaves comments on blogs is present in the blogosphere.

Viral – Ahhh, the ultimate campaign success is for it to go viral, spreading the online message with minimal effort on your part, e.g. The T Mobile Dance filmed at Liverpool Station. (Actually, having just mentioned T Mobile, I’m surprised the term flashmob isn’t in this list too.)

Klout – How much Klout do you have in your niche? This is a scoring system which assesses online engagement. Rentokil’s Klout is 43 and we have influence on the subjects of pest control, malaria and cars (?) whereas deBugged’s Klout is 37 and has influence on the subjects of pest control, photography and food.

What’s your favourite social media media campaign? Would you have included or excluded any other SM terms/campaigns? Enjoy playing at your next meeting!

Have You Played Social Lingo Bingo? is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

But what should you look out for?

• Wood – Evidence of boreholes or “frass”/sawdust which indicate an infestation
• Textiles – Small holes or areas where the material is wearing thin
• Paintings – Small surface holes, rear smears/marks or exit holes
• Paper – Holes or tattered edges where the paint or colour appear to have been erased

These symptoms could be a sign of all kinds of  pests feasting on your artwork, e.g. beetles drilling into your picture frames, moths chewing on delicate materials, silverfish moving across pages, flies droppings from when they are trapped in spiderwebs, rodents nibbling frames, carpet beetles chewing their way through rugs/carpets. Although to be honest, if you have got these problems with your artwork, the chances are you might also have a larger pest problem at home too.

Pests generally need warm, humid or dank conditions to survive and reproduce in the home. Therefore you should try to keep artwork in a cooler ambient temperature, not in a damp basement or cellar and away from direct sunlight to avoid fading. Where possible, allow air to circulate around it and do some spring cleaning when possible, taking the opportunity to check the front and back of each piece. Museums, art galleries or sites with larger collections of valuable artwork will have an Integrated Pest Management programme in place to avoid such problems, but  a treatment known as Controlled Atmosphere Technology CAT can manage/resolve any pest infestations.

If you do spot some damage on a piece of artwork at home, seal in plastic until you are able to get it repaired/restored professionally to avoid spreading the contamination. Personally, I know I’d be so upset if any of the family portraits got munched by pests. Actually, I think I will take my own advice and check all the pictures this weekend, you know, just to make sure.

Pest Control to Prevent Artwork Damage is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

Two Three things occurred to me…
Firstly: why was I thinking about work whilst on maternity leave?
Secondly: was it a potential or relevant sponsorship opportunity for Rentokil with such an aptly named race?
Thirdly: what is the origin of the phrase “rat race”? (This occurred to me today whilst preparing this post.

So to address each point in turn.

You can never escape pest control

You really can’t. The subject of pest control seems to follow you about once you work in the pest control industry. When you mention to people that your employer is Rentokil, they have either had a pest problem themselves or know someone who has. You just can’t help finding bugs, reading stories about bugs, or constantly seeing our vans out on the road or parked up. The difference for us, as employees, is that we know that if a van is parked somewhere it may well mean that a preventative treatment is being carried out as part of an annual contract. As opposed to the common myth that if Rentokil have come round, they must be treating a problem – not the myth about the Rentokil name.

What is the London Rat Race?

Well, it is (and I quote) “an urban adventure team challenge event that turns cities into high-adrenaline adventure playgrounds for participants of all abilities”. The London Rat Race is being held this weekend (24th/25th September). On Saturday you and the two other members of your team will have to visit checkpoints on foot and do various challenges at some of London’s iconic venues. You could run up to 10K depending on how many checkpoints you visit in the time allotted. Sunday is bicycle based and will also incorporate climbing, parkour and kayaking among other activities. Sounds like great fun.

The origins of the phrase “Rat Race”

The current meaning is an endless, self-defeating or pointless pursuit. Like that of a lab rat repeating an experiment to obtain a reward at the end of the task; or someone on a corporate treadmill continuously repeating the same jobs day after day after day. But who coined this phrase and when? I decided to do some very brief online research and when I Googled ”origins of the phrase rat race“ , I got 347K suggestions! I took a look at the first page of results to check the consensus.

Did you know that the rat race was one of the animal named jazz dances that American teenagers practised in the 30’s? Others included the turkey trot and the bunny hop. No, I didn’t either. Somehow, I think it unlikely that this is the origin of the phrase.

Other suggestions included two rats both aiming to get to a piece of cheese first. Rather than collude and share, they each try to outdo the other in getting there first, using up more energy than necessary. A little tip, pest controllers know that foods other than cheese taste nice to rats and mice.

But the earliest usage of this expression I could find falls to one William Sloane Coffin, Chaplain of Williams College at Yale in the 1950’s: “Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.” Fairly close to the current usage. Well done Father Coffin.

Let me know if you find any other sources! Oh, and if you have enetered the race this weekend, why not let me know how you get on. Maybe next year I’ll even sign up for it? Anyone want to join my team?

Are You In The London Rat Race? is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

Ahh, what bliss. Lounging around all day by the Louis Phaeton Beach Hotel kids pool, only having to get up to do the drinks run and stop the family dehydrating. Every now and again nipping down a water slide to cool down. This was done either with the eldest child on a rubber ring, or racing the husband on a rubber mat (I lost 99% of the time!) all under the watchful eye of a brilliant team of lifeguards (dressed all in red but NOT looking like buff Baywatch extras I hasten to add).

The only thing that was missing was loads of bugs, thank goodness – unlike a summer holiday to Lindos a few years back where I had to share a room with a millipede and a mouse. Each night we dutifully put up a mosquito net around the kids beds as we had read Trip Advisor reports about the terrible bug problems. Lies, all lies. The mosquitoes were clearly so hot that they couldn’t be bothered to fly up the second floor, they stayed at the basement floor rooms having delicious human blood suppers from the guests who had rooms with patio doors leading out onto the grassy areas. The greenery was kept nice and lush with the daily sprinkler system being switched on – so yes there was nice looking grass but loads of mosquitoes due to the moist conditions. Even flies seemed to vacate the premises, I only saw four in the space of 14 days! Oh, and I spotted a solitary millipede approaching the bar one lunchtime, presumably to sample the cocktail of the day. It was a Supernova: white wine and lemonade if you’re interested.

I am also proud to say I am one of the 80% of Britons who returned home NOT to find a pest infestation as I pest-proofed the house before going away on holiday. Before leaving, I emptied the fridge of any fresh produce which would be out of date, bleached all plugholes and both loos, emptied and cleaned the food bins, then washed all kitchen surfaces and floor. I did, however, find a dead spider in the bath – which my lucky husband removed for me. And yes, I am in total agreement with the 67% of people who reportedly despise and fear spiders, bleurgh! (He has now had to remove three FOUR, yes FOUR, massive massive spiders from the living room in the last two months or so while I sit pinned with fear on the sofa. Question: where do they hide prior to scuttling across the living room floor? *shivers*)

I would totally recommend this hotel for anyone looking for a family friendly location. Funds permitting we will be going back at some point but not next year – or next week as the eldest requested. So we might not be so lucky with the bug situation next summer, watch this space…

A Distinct Lack Of Bugs On Holiday is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog