Office Parties and After-Hours Events
The office party — it's a wonderful way to let employees relax and socialize together in a less stressful environment than the workplace. Right? Well, sometimes. The occasional office party does help people get to know one another in another context. Just as they might wear hiking boots and jeans in the woods or business suits in the office, people tend to adopt certain behaviors for specific environments and circumstances. Seeing each other outside the usual climate can break down barriers and encourage greater cooperation in the workplace.
A party can be a reward for a job well done, something the company gives to employees to show appreciation for their extra effort and hard work. This makes people feel special and also reinforces the value of teamwork. People get the chance to mingle and get comfortable with each other while someone else foots the bill. We all like to feel that we're getting something for nothing.
When Partying Goes Too Far
Parties lose their charm when they get out of control, however, and can serve to further divide, rather than unite, a work group or department. The hope and intent for an office party is to bring people together. If a work group consists of very diverse personalities, a party can magnify rather than minimize differences. Parties that cater to one group make others feel left out. People may feel obligated to attend parties and other company activities even though doing so interferes with other plans. This is especially the case when employees are expected to bring their spouses or families.
Parties are more relaxing when they are less frequent and held off-site. If it's been a rough day or week, the last place people want to be to unwind is at the workplace. People are creatures of habit who tend to follow the same patterns of behavior in their environments. A work group at a party at the workplace will sit together, likely in the same seats they take at meetings or lunch, depending on the party's location. It doesn't do much to break people from their routines if they end up sitting with their usual group at their usual table.
Not all after-hours events are purely social. Some companies sponsor community contribution days, on which employees donate their time and talents to service and charitable organizations. This might be a day spent serving lunch at a homeless shelter or building a house with a volunteer organization such as Habitat for Humanity. When community giving is involved, many employees feel a sense of satisfaction and contribution.
Hold the Booze
No matter how much people expect to find alcoholic beverages at parties, drinking is a problem. People often like to have a drink or two to unwind and loosen up. It's hard to feel comfortable in new settings, especially when the socializing appears contrived and your coworkers are not people with whom you'd ordinarily go out. Because the point is to relax, many companies hold parties at locations that serve alcohol. This gives the impression that it's not really the company that's supplying the drinks and makes people feel more comfortable about drinking. They relax and have fun, and that's what parties are all about — until someone gets out of control.
According to several studies, 70 percent of companies serve alcoholic beverages at office parties and 60 percent of employees drink enough to become intoxicated. Most office parties feature beer and wine, if not cocktails. Drinking is a social activity for many adults, and most people expect it at adult functions. Problems arise when people drink too much, and then say or do things they or others will regret.
Increasingly, there are consequences for such actions. Managers and employees alike may have a tough time returning to pre-party behaviors and relationships. Managers might lose the respect of their employees; employees might lose the trust their managers had in them. More frightening and severe consequences can arise if an employee leaves the party drunk and drives, getting into an accident on the way home.
It's certainly not your job to baby-sit employees at parties; after all, they're adults and can make their own judgments and decisions. But if you knowingly allow a drunken employee to drive away, you could end up holding the accountability bag. A court could find you and your company partially responsible for whatever damage the employee did — including taking someone's life — because you failed to intervene.
