Are you among the 54 per cent of Brits that dread the work Christmas party?

The findings come from employee engagement service Reward Gateway, which has found that 32.3 per cent of office workers don’t have work Christmas parties, so you’d think those who do have shindigs to attend would look forward to them.

That said, some 18 per cent of jolly employees said it’s the office highlight of the year – 21 per cent of women against 16 per cent of men – and it’s particularly favoured by 16-34 year olds to suggest it’s the more seasoned workers who are all doom and gloom about the annual gathering.

Results also showed that 17 per cent of respondents said they will definitely avoid the Christmas bash and seven per cent said they will leave as early as possible, while 28 per cent of people said they believe their employer could do more for the company at this time of the year.

Debra Corey, group reward director at Reward Gateway, said: “It’s great to see so many organisations finding ways to reward and recognise their employees in some way for the festive season. A Christmas party can be a great way to do this, but as the survey shows, they’re not right for everyone.”

This comes on the back of another Christmas party study from reputation management firm Igniyte, which discovered one in four office workers plan to drink less in order to lower the risk of saying or doing something they’ll later find embarrassing when the alcohol has left their system.

Read more on Christmas work parties:

• UK firms to pay £1bn for Christmas parties – but spend per employee varies
• Four things your staff need from you to excel over Christmas
• Five corporate event ideas to give staff members a festive fattening

Seemingly love is on the agenda for many people. Almost 30 per cent of people have flirted with a colleague at one of the seasonal soirees, one in four have gone a step further and kissed a peer, and one in ten plan to tell a co-worker they have feelings for them.

And in a bid to avoid a social media scandal, 15 per cent of employees will change Facebook settings so they have to approve status and photo tags, which links to previous research that found Brits are quite content to snub friend requests from colleagues.

There’s no smoke without fire – some employees have said they’ve had an argument with their significant other about being tagged in something suspect after a Christmas party.

In terms of sector, those in the property sector are most likely to find themselves in trouble with a verbal or written warning about their behaviour and eight per cent have even been fired.

Meanwhile those in the travel industry are most likely to hook-up with a co-worker and 14 per cent of energy & utilities employees admitted they have been dumped by a partner after a work do.

Suddenly the 54 per cent of people that dread the party don’t look quite so ungrateful…

“A strong reward and recognition strategy is the starting point and a must for businesses who want to attract, engage and retain the very best. Whatever you do this Christmas, it should be part of a wider year-long strategy, and not stand on its own,” added Corey.

“A Christmas party is the cherry on top, rather than the foundation of the strategy. Having the right reward and recognition tools in place will result in happier, more productive employees.”

For the 15 per cent due to receive a Christmas bonus and ten per cent set to receive a gift, they will indeed feel happier and more productive than those who are due to go without.

By Zen Terrelonge

Image: Shutterstock

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