New research from Avaya, a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions and services, reveals the extent to which the UK’s good intentions go out the window when it comes to the office Christmas party. According to a survey* of 2,000 home and office workers, despite over half of us (53%) viewing the office party as a strategic opportunity to network and build contacts, well over a third (38%) of people admit to drinking too much, and nearly a quarter of us (24%) wake up the next day regretting our behaviour. When it comes to faux pas, over a quarter (27%) of people consider a cheeky snog with the boss or a colleague to be the biggest one you can make, yet almost a fifth (18%) of us confess to having done it!
Home workers are the most enthusiastic party-goers, yet they’re also the worst offenders. While half of office-based employees would prefer to ditch the dodgy dancing for an evening in, a sizable 60 per cent of home workers would rather attend the Christmas party. Over a quarter (26%) of them sees it as an opportunity to schmooze with influential colleagues in contrast to a mere 16 per cent of office-based staff who believe they have a chance of furthering their career by manipulating the management at the work Christmas do.
But despite their good intentions and admirable career aspirations, home workers are more likely to regret their behaviour once at the event. In fact, 22 per cent of them admit to having snogged their boss, while 13 per cent say they’ve gone as far as to verbally abuse a colleague. For better-behaved office workers, these figures sit at just 13 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.
And perhaps the most feared consequence of unruly behaviour is having it documented and shared. Not surprisingly, Facebook is one of the most feared destinations (32%) for Christmas party snaps to end up. Yet quite unexpectedly, people would be more afraid of having proof of their exploits circulated internally (22%) than shared on Twitter (12%).