That Fizz Has Gone Flat At Offie Parties

Don’t have mistletoe in your handbag, the works ‘do’ is no longer the occasion for harmless flirting

- Karen Kay

FOR the last few months Helen in HR has been desperate to secure a budget-friendly corporate jamboree to appease exhausted staff for another year. Sorry, I slipped into cynical mode there. Helen is clearly bursting with festive cheer and wants to celebrate another fabulous 12 months with all her colleagues, who can’t wait to dress up and spend fun-filled hours with their fellow workers.

Whether you work for a small business or vast corporation, the idea that employees are keen to mingle together awkwardly after-hours, cheap fizz in hand and one eye on the clock, is ambitious. If you have become friendly with people you work alongside, you will organise to see them socially anyway. But, if Alan from Accounts is a bore, and Sarah from Sales is socially inept, you probably can’t wait to clock off so you can spend time with your loved ones – or at least your mates.

And then there’s Larry the Lech. The one who foregoes all civility once you’ve been served your first out-of-hours drink, asking personal questions and making lewd remarks. He or she could be the boss, flagrantly flirting with junior members of staff, knowing they’ll laugh it off with a shrug if they want that Christmas bonus or afternoon off to attend their daughter’s nativity play.