have you ever been a victim of "bikeism" at work?

cjw

el_presidente wrote:

jrduquemin wrote:

As you are a managing director, surely you would have enough clout to get an 'executive washroom' installed that would give you facilities to clean up after your ride in?

MD at an investment bank is not quite the same as an MD in any other company

Sounds similar to a company who works for me where everyone is a director - they love their titles :roll:

teticio

not the best time to be an investment *anker... bonus related jokes aside...

i will try to see if there is a way to get a locker at the work gym. the permanent lockers (i have one) are very small so i would have to ask for a favour. maybe they'll even let me leave the car there overnight so i can use it to go from the gym to work like "a normal person".

thanks again

NGale

Only two of us in our control room cycle to work on a regular basis, so we are in the minority.

anti cyclist behaviour is very much in the majority in our place however and myself and the other regular cyclist have complained especially after one member of staff stated that cyclists deserved to be run off the road!

cee

teticio wrote:

not the best time to be an investment *anker... bonus related jokes aside...

i will try to see if there is a way to get a locker at the work gym. the permanent lockers (i have one) are very small so i would have to ask for a favour. maybe they'll even let me leave the car there overnight so i can use it to go from the gym to work like "a normal person".

thanks again

there are other things you can do....like use 1 day to do a suit and trousers run in the car, then ride to work the rest of the time.....prepare in advance so that you have enough clean shirts etc already at work for the week. then you can do a work laundry all at once.

There are four people in my immediate workspace. 2 of us ride to work the majority of the time, 1 more is an occasional and the last brings a motorbike. We turned a cupboard thing into a wardrobe by adding a rail and everyone uses it.

chuckcork

Fight back with BS the same way.

Point out that for you cycling is more than about getting to work, it makes you focussed for work that day as the MD and gives you the energy to do your job and face the challenges as successfully as you do. Ask why it is that no one else does, suggest that everyone else do it as part of a drive to improve productivity and punctuality?

Developing a lard-rse driving to work in a beemer certainly won't do that for you.

I do understand the issue though, going to a meeting for a development project I could see how my boss (4wd BMW) was parked next to a Merc, Audi etc, the car was just as much part of the job and the image that needed to be projected at all times as the sharp suit that mostly hangs off the back of the chair.

Clever Pun

teticio wrote:

not the best time to be an investment *anker... bonus related jokes aside...

mine wasn't a joke as such, bonus's are about perception of you as much as they are how much you achieve...

used to work in one for nearly 8 years

teticio

chuckcork wrote:

Fight back with BS the same way.

Point out that for you cycling is more than about getting to work, it makes you focussed for work that day as the MD and gives you the energy to do your job and face the challenges as successfully as you do. Ask why it is that no one else does, suggest that everyone else do it as part of a drive to improve productivity and punctuality?

Developing a lard-rse driving to work in a beemer certainly won't do that for you.

I do understand the issue though, going to a meeting for a development project I could see how my boss (4wd BMW) was parked next to a Merc, Audi etc, the car was just as much part of the job and the image that needed to be projected at all times as the sharp suit that mostly hangs off the back of the chair.

if i had someone to point it out to i would. don't get me wrong, my boss is fully suportive. he is just trying to help by passing on comments or perceptions that might affect me. you are right about the car image too unfortunately.

MonkeyMonster

Clever Pun wrote:

used to work in one for nearly 8 years

So did the beard mean they gave you one because of fear or you didn't because they laughed at it?

Clever Pun

MonkeyMonster wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

used to work in one for nearly 8 years

So did the beard mean they gave you one because of fear or you didn't because they laughed at it?

clean shaven when I started of course, I wasn't born with it

MonkeyMonster

Clever Pun wrote:

MonkeyMonster wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

used to work in one for nearly 8 years

So did the beard mean they gave you one because of fear or you didn't because they laughed at it?

clean shaven when I started of course, I wasn't born with it

Yeah right... 8)

bradford

My old boss used to take the mick outta me all the time for cycling in to work.Always banging on about the fact that you don't pay to be on the roads! and takin the p*ss when i came in wet on a rainy day.Think he was a bit jealous that i was havin all the fun

Headhuunter

Interesting discussion. I work for a headhunting firm within the investment banking sphere and I have the opposite problem. When I joined I was the only person who biked in, then I suggested that we join the bike to work scheme and it just took off and is still expanding. Now there are around 5 other cyclists (out of a company of about 20 or so) which includes 2 of the 3 CEO/founders of the company. This is all well and good but it has put a strain on the single shower cubicle we have at our disposal (although a couple of people shower at a local gym) as well as the limited sweaty bike kit storage facilities. Originally it was just me and one other guy (a runner) who stored wet towels, sweaty gear etc down a corridor in the basement, now there are towels and gear hanging off every possible railing and raidator. We need to move to an office with proper bike parking, 3 or 4 shower cubicles and storage places for kit!

unscarred

It's weird here in Canary Wharf. I work in a very large building which used to house a large investment bank you've all heard of and now contains a slightly smaller investment bank you probably haven't heard of, plus a couple of smaller companies in related fields. I park my bike in the underground car park during the day alongside the facility for the execs to get their BMWs, Merc, Rangies, Porsches, Ferraris, Astons valeted. The bike racks are usually 70% full including some very nice machines, and the valeting company have recently started offering bike servicing. I get the impression many people on silly money leave their motor in the car park all week and cycle to and from work, then take the beautifully clean car away at weekends. They don't need to worry about clean suits, shirts, etc, because they just use the onsite dry-cleaners.
If that's an option for you, you should consider it.
And yes, it's a status thing. The car is not just a vehicle that you enjoy for itself. In a company where you're contract prohibits discussing your salary or bonus, your car is a visible expression of your success, your position, your influence and importance, the same as the sharp suit, expensive cufflinks, the latest blackberry, the size of your office, access to the executive lift and which floor you work on.
So my tip is: buy the most expensive bike you can afford. Buy the most expensive cycling clothing you can afford. Ideally, your cycling kit should be more expensive than your peers' suits. And leave the catalogues lying around somewhere conspicuous where "they" can see what it all costs!

Porgy

cjw wrote:

If they have no facilities and you sit arond sweaty with dripping clothes around the radiators - they have a point

No they don't - all but the smallest firms should be able to provide faciltities.


I have suffered prejudice - when I first started working for the automatic ticketing machines department in London Underground about 18 years ago it was in a little office in the Baker Street complex - there was a small car park but no bike parking and fairly intolerent security staff so my new boss said bring the bike in and we put it in a corridor near the office. But this casued so much hassle as well as me having to take it up three storeys that I stopped after a couple of weeks - plus as I wasn't able to lock it to anything the worry about it being stolen was getting to me a bit too.

I more or less completely stopped cycling for about 4/5 years.

Still in the same department - mid 90s - fired up by the early critical masses - I start cycling again. Now there's a small cycle parking area so I manage to park outside now even though getting blocked in by vans is ever present risk...as is theft.

Now - one of the managers has a go at me on a daily basis - tells me cyclists are a nuisance and that i'm disprecting the company by not using the free travel pass i've been provided with. If I'm ever late he blames the bike - despite the fact that my journey time is halved by cycling. In the end I got to change departments and he was retired off - I'll neevr forget his threat to run me over if he ever saw me on the road though, especially when cycling in the Windsor area - i've been cycling trouble free ever since - now TfL's policy is pro-cycling.

I find I'm more tired and more sweaty/ dirty etc. if I come in by bus/DLR/tube - and always in a bad mood - plus public transport isn;t any quicker. There'd be no reason for anyone to ask me to stop cycling. I also get to meetings in other buildings quicker than anyone else which makes me more productive! 8)

Jay dubbleU

I work for a company that has over 7000 staff - no changing rooms, no showers, minimal bike space - government of course

Porgy

Jay dubbleU wrote:

I work for a company that has over 7000 staff - no changing rooms, no showers, minimal bike space - government of course

LU was like that 20 years ago - but it is changing now.

itboffin

MonkeyMonster wrote:

I hope this is more of a - give me a boost chaps, need to prove a point to the scaredy cats at work that cycling is awesome.

If it is genuinely being suggested that you stop - then that is bullying in the workplace and needs to be officially sorted.

I find that if I stand on the table when giving my reply to cycling related questions adds that little extra memorable punch :shock:

MonkeyMonster

itboffin wrote:

MonkeyMonster wrote:

I hope this is more of a - give me a boost chaps, need to prove a point to the scaredy cats at work that cycling is awesome.

If it is genuinely being suggested that you stop - then that is bullying in the workplace and needs to be officially sorted.

I find that if I stand on the table when giving my reply to cycling related questions adds that little extra memorable punch :shock:

So that you're at least then slightly taller? 8)

MadammeMarie

Kurako wrote:

Gotta love the dumb questions you get from non-cyclists though...

Q. "What do you do when it rains?"
A. "I get wet".

:roll:

Q. "What do you do when it rains?"
A: "I got good rainproof gear"

Porgy

MadammeMarie wrote:

Kurako wrote:

Gotta love the dumb questions you get from non-cyclists though...

Q. "What do you do when it rains?"
A. "I get wet".

:roll:

Q. "What do you do when it rains?"
A: "I got good rainproof gear"

I usually get as wet walking to the the tube station in London and waiting for my bus connection at Woolwich as when I cycle - at least cycling offers the chance of drying out again fairly quickly if the sun comes out.

itboffin

itboffin wrote:

MonkeyMonster wrote:

I hope this is more of a - give me a boost chaps, need to prove a point to the scaredy cats at work that cycling is awesome.

If it is genuinely being suggested that you stop - then that is bullying in the workplace and needs to be officially sorted.

I find that if I stand on the table when giving my reply to cycling related questions adds that little extra memorable punch :shock:

Whilst wearing one of these



Finish by saying on Tuesday's I want to be called Susan

I suspect this will clear your diary pretttty nicely

MadammeMarie

SimonLyons wrote:

From an earlier post I see you live in Spain - Madrid.
Do they have a different attitude to commuting by bike over there?

Spain? That explains it then! No offence to the Spaniards here, but I'm of latin origin as well, and I know how prejudiced the latin culture generaly is with minorities of any kind.

No les des pelota!!! (don't listen to them!).

MadammeMarie

teticio wrote:

haha, i knew this would kick off, but i didn't expect so many replies so quickly.

i'd like to take the "who cares what others think" line - this is more or less how i have always lived my life... but i am a managing director in an investment bank and, once you move away from very tangible results that can be directly attributed to you, unfortunately people's perception of you counts more and, what is more, reflects on your team.

try as i might, it is difficult to avoid having crumpled suit trousers (nowhere to hang them up at work), sometimes specks of mud fly up from the short ride from the gym to the office in a suit... and i started to change into my lycra in the office toilets for the ride home and those 10 seconds of being inappropriately dressed in the lift down to where the bike is parked seem to matter. to have to go back to the gym to change on the way back just adds more hassle.

oh, and i am one of few english working in our office in madrid... the spanish, much as i love them, are not the most open minded of people. i used to always use the excuse of being english to get away with being slightly "eccentric".

well, i appreciate the support guys, but i think i am going to hang up the cycle gloves until i've had a chance to parade around in my sharply pressed suits for a while. once the political climate calms down (i'm sure many of you work in banks and know that things are relatively tense) i'll try going back.

and i was so pleased to have "beat the system"...

I work in an investment bank in London, Canary Wharf. Maybe we both work for the same lot....?

MadammeMarie

el_presidente wrote:

[MD at an investment bank is not quite the same as an MD in any other company

They are pretty high, though. I supported the investment bank for years (IT Support) and many times we had to bend backwardsd to accommodate them, because they were MD's!

MadammeMarie

unscarred wrote:

It's weird here in Canary Wharf. I work in a very large building which used to house a large investment bank you've all heard of and now contains a slightly smaller investment bank you probably haven't heard of, plus a couple of smaller companies in related fieldsI!

I work across the street from you....

We have 2 shower rooms here and 3 parking bays, so I t hink we are very lucky/spoilt. Never had any "bikeism". In fact, some MD's have seen me in the lifts carrying my pannier and have asked me about cycling into work, how long it takes me and that they are thinking of starting to do it. And this bank has participated in the Cycle 2 Work scheme in the past.

I think what happens to Tectio is a result of a different culture and society, not necesarily iwth the banking industry.

deptfordmarmoset

Teticio, if your boss is concerned about what ''they'' might think about you cycling, is it possible that he too would like the freedom to cycle to work but is actually afraid of what ''they'' might think about him? Because, if he's a closet cyclist, you should be encouraging him to take the plunge - and thereby increasing the company's biking presence by 100%.

Now, there's a management challenge....

cjw

Porgy wrote:

cjw wrote:

If they have no facilities and you sit arond sweaty with dripping clothes around the radiators - they have a point

No they don't -

If it is disrupting the workplace yes they do - hygiene is one of the top 10 management issues and one of the most tricky to deal with.

cjw

Thought I'd add this for info (rather than simply a yes they do no they don't debate)...

http://www.chamberhr.co.uk/hrmain.asp?file=0g3rp7ww06ph

"It is suggested that a regular series of chats is held, just to emphasise that it is a high priority on your own list of concerns. Explain that you have their best interests in mind and work to eliminate the odours. Sadly if this conciliatory route fails, and other employees continue to complain about the odours, you may have to consider disciplinary action.
"

MadammeMarie

Porgy wrote:

I usually get as wet walking to the the tube station in London and waiting for my bus connection at Woolwich as when I cycle - at least cycling offers the chance of drying out again fairly quickly if the sun comes out.

I always HATED getting wet. I got the biggest umbrella for when I'm walking and spent a fortune on rainproof gear for cycling. I'm probably the worst cycling companiion on bad weather...!

Porgy

cjw wrote:

Porgy wrote:

cjw wrote:

If they have no facilities and you sit arond sweaty with dripping clothes around the radiators - they have a point

No they don't -

If it is disrupting the workplace yes they do - hygiene is one of the top 10 management issues and one of the most tricky to deal with.

I didn't say that hygiene wasn't an issue - but any decent sized company should provide facilties...I started cycling when my company had nothing - a feeble usually broken shower and nowhere to chain the bike up - I used to lock myself in the disabled toilet to wash and change and my cycling clothes would go into a carrier bag under my desk even when wet - and I'd be putting them on wet at the end of the day.

As a result of me and a few others sticking with it over the years - faciltiies are getting better and better.

If a company truly respect their workforce then they'll respect their choice of how to get into work - and the health benefits are unquestionable - why would any company not want a healthy workforce? :?: