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ACCORDING to a new study from business psychologists, OPP, the UK is top of the European charts for "workplace chameleons".

It found that 64 per cent of UK workers (18.6 million) change their natural behaviour and put on a false personality when they walk into work.

This compares with a European average of just 50 per cent, with countries such as the Netherlands coming in at only 36 per cent.

The survey questioned 1,000 employees in the UK and a further 3,000 in six other European countries. It revealed that UK workers are more likely to change the way they project their personality at work than their European counterparts.

The extent to which they disguise their personalities is also startling, with a third admitting to putting on a radically different face at work. In fact, 45 per cent go as far as to attempt to take on an entirely new persona with each new job they take.

It is not just employees who are not showing their real selves. Half of bosses (48 per cent) admit to changing the way they present their personality when interviewing candidates and 15 per cent continue to adopt a different persona in front of anyone they manage.

The worst UK industries for workplace chameleons were:

HR (90 per cent)

Education (77 per cent)

Finance (73 per cent)

Healthcare (71 per cent)

IT (70 per cent)

Unsurprisingly, this relentless morphing is causing considerable strain on the workforce. Well over a third (39 per cent) find their jobs more stressful because they feel obliged to act in a certain way.

It is not just in the office that these chameleons change their true colours - more than one in five of us admit to changing our apparent personality when in a social setting with colleagues and an alarming 11 per cent of us are even doing it when we are with our friends.

Robert McHenry, CEO of OPP, said: "To an extent, most of us would admit to having different faces for different situations.

"What is worrying is the degree to which people feel the need to try and change their personality and the effect that this has on their lives in terms of stress levels, tiredness and productivity."

He added: "The UK workforce seems to have become caught up with managing impressions and meeting organisational expectations about what is and what isn't the right kind of person for any particular role or company.

"The truth is, of course, that any business needs to blend a number of different types of people, each with their own attributes and differing strengths, if it is to succeed.

"Suppressing or enhancing any given trait to the detriment of one's real personality will be counter productive and can have longer term effects on health.

"For anyone to perform well and be happy, it's important they remain true to their genuine selves - particularly when people now spend so many of their waking hours at work.

"Understanding who you are and exploring both your strengths and weaknesses can go a long way to unlocking your full potential at work, both as an individual and in a team."

1:53pm Thursday 10th April 2008

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