This year the UK workforce looked beyond the glitz and glamour of the work party and thought about ways they could use a more social approach to boost business and job prospects.

The latest research from Orange reveals that over a third (35%) of the working population see their office party as a prime place to network, impress the boss and potentially bag a promotion.

In the current challenging business environment, most workers are more focused on safe-guarding their jobs, strengthening current work relationships and starting new ones. Almost 40% believe they can use the Christmas get-together to get to know other parts of the business and make better contacts.
However, although workers are in agreement about the potential of the Christmas party for greater things, only four per cent actually do something about it and set out to impress the boss. In fact, 70% don’t prepare for the annual bash at all. This is surprising when as many as 45% consider boring management to tears after a few drinks as the single worst thing to do at the party.

Network-savvy 25-34 year olds believe that their Christmas party behaviour could have a positive impact on their career (38%), and do spend time getting to know people at the annual bash. However, they are also most likely to have been ill from excessive partying, showing that good intentions don’t always mean good results.

Nearly a fifth of managers - those old stalwarts of the Christmas party - seem to have learnt from previous festive faux pas however, and use the work ’do’ as an opportunity to push their career forward. It is rare to be in a social situation with access to all the people who could influence your future job prospects and, according to the research, managers are more likely to take advantage versus only nine per cent of non- managers who would seize the opportunity.
Have you ever been able to give your career a boost as a result of meeting someone at the Christmas party?