Christmas staff parties: love them or hate them? They sure make for some great next-day water-cooler chatter. Perhaps, Sandra’s, from Accounts, awesome karaoke singing debut got you talking, or it was the (slightly) inappropriate Secret Santa gifts, or discovering Michael from IT makes the most delicious gingerbread cookies. There’s always something to be said about the Christmas staff party.
This festive season staple indubitably took a hit during the pandemic, but like everything else, they are likely to bounce back stronger than ever this year. So how do people in Malta feel about Christmas parties?
The latest Keepmeposted survey asks this question and here’s the main result: only 57% claimed they enjoy them. 39.5% do not, and about 4% are not sure. Of those asked, Christmas staff parties tend to be more popular with female respondents, in fact, 63% enjoy them.
However, of those who say they personally celebrate Christmas, the percentage of respondents who enjoy Christmas staff parties is higher at 67.5%. An overwhelming majority of 75% of female respondents who celebrate Christmas enjoy Christmas staff parties. Only 21.5% claimed to not enjoy them, while another 3.7% are unsure. In the case of male respondents who celebrate Christmas, only 58% claim to enjoy Christmas staff parties. 37% do not enjoy them and another 6% are unsure. Overall, from both those who celebrate Christmas and those who don’t, almost 48% claim they enjoy them, and 47% say they do not. About 5% are unsure. On the other hand, female respondents are always more inclined to enjoy Christmas staff parties according to our survey. With almost 63% claiming they do, and another 34% claiming they do not. 3% are unsure.
Among the younger age group of 18 to 35 years old, the majority enjoy Christmas staff parties at 58%, whilst 38% do not. Almost 4% are unsure. In the older age group of those between 36 and 55, 55.5% enjoy staff parties, 40% do not, and almost 4.5% are unsure. Of those in the oldest age group of respondents aged 56-65, 56.8% enjoy Christmas staff parties, whereas 41% do not. Only 2.4% are unsure. This makes those between the ages of 36 and 55 the least likely to enjoy Christmas staff parties.
When you’re planning this year’s Christmas staff party, you might want to consider the following observations from our survey.
When asked what type of party they prefer, people in Malta tend to prefer a big reception at 48.3% or a dinner party, at 28%. The percentages remain consistent among male and female respondents. Dance parties are the third and least favourite choice among respondents, at 11.8% of respondents choosing ‘Dance parties’ as the type of party they prefer. Of the younger portion of respondents, 44.3% prefer a big reception, 25.1% a dinner party, 12.3% a dance party, whereas the rest (18.2%) said they would prefer none. The 36 to 55 age group is less likely to prefer the big reception at 39.5%, 28.3% prefer the dinner party, and 13.7% the dance party. 18.5% said “none”. Of the older group aged between 56 and 65, the big reception remained the most popular choice at 46.3%. The dinner party still remains the second choice here at 26.9% but only 7.4% prefer the dance party. 19.5% do not like any of these options.
Christmas staff parties are not one-size-fits-all. Get to know your team and inquire what they may be after… the answer may surprise you. Remember that this is an opportune team-building moment, as well. As teams become more remote, it is worth making the extra effort to break the ice and allow them to get to know one another outside the confines of work.
What about you? How do you feel about Christmas staff parties? Share this article with someone who loves (or hates) staff parties.
This article refers to a recent survey commissioned by Keepmeposted which targeted over 500+ people based in Malta who come from different industries and varying age groups, between 18 and 65 years of age, through a stratified online sample.
