(Newswire.net — December 23, 2016) — You might really look forward to planning your office Christmas party, and you might be under the impression that your staff actually enjoys attending. However, whilst your staff may enjoy playing games like Ladbrokes office Christmas bingo and others that you’ve planned for them to get into the holiday spirit, it actually turns out, according to the results of a couple of studies, that only 25 per cent of staff like to go to their workplace’s Christmas party.
The Results of the First Study
A survey was held in 2014, and it asked 700 employees who worked in office environments how they felt about their office’s Christmas party. Only roughly a quarter of the people who were surveyed said that they actually looked forward to the event each year.
On the other hand, 1/5 of respondents stated that they really hated the parties, and another 4 out of 10 people said that they did not really care either way or were basically unsure of how they felt about the event.
A Second Study Confirming the Results
Another study, this time by Reward Gateway, was held in the UK, and it involved 1,000 employees. The results showed that 32.3 per cent of workers don’t even have office Christmas parties because they simply don’t enjoy them. And more than half of those employees that do have to attend these parties don’t even look forward to them. Plus, 7 per cent of people stated that they were planning on leaving early, or even completely avoiding the party if they could figure out a way to do so.
Only 18 per cent of the people surveyed stated that the holiday party was a highlight for their year, and the parties are most popular amongst those who are between 16 and 34 years old.
So even though employers like to throw these holiday parties in an effort to show their appreciation to their employees, it turns out that the employees would feel even more appreciated if they weren’t forced to attend the holiday events in the first place.
Why Employees Don’t Like Office Parties
There were several reasons listed as to why these employees did not enjoy attending their office’s Christmas party. Some didn’t like the restaurant choices that their employees made when it came to where the event was hosted. Others were not pleased with the fact that they were being forced to spend even more time around co-workers that they didn’t like (working with them for several hours every day was clearly already more than enough). And still others actually felt pressured to get drunk at these events even though they didn’t feel comfortable doing so.
If you are an employer who is thinking about whether or not to throw a Christmas party for your staff, perhaps it would be best to conduct your own in-office survey. Have your workers anonymously answer the question regarding whether or not they want a holiday party. You may be surprised by the results, but either way, you will be making a decision that suits your workforce and makes them happy.