But over the last few years, the corporate Christmas party has been put under scrutiny, with the numbers of hard-working employees partying hard across the UK diminishing significantly. The recession has been a huge factor in the decision for many managers choosing to skip the company’s festive fun, but the office Christmas party is so much more than just a place for people to drink a little too much.

Yes, the work Christmas party is renowned for featuring some ‘unusual’ situations, but with the recent economic climate hanging in the air it’s more important than ever in order to boost staff morale and provide some welcome downtime for hard working employees.

There is a reason why the party is discussed for months to come; by creating positive shared memories, colleagues are automatically brought closer together, thus strengthening bonds between employees and creating a sense of familiarity – two crucial aspects of team building.

The office Christmas party is also a perfect opportunity to recognize employee’s achievements over the past year and celebrate any successes. Rewarding workers for their accomplishments will ensure that they feel appreciated, and encourage increased performance in the future.

Many employers believe that the benefits of having a Christmas party far outweigh the cost, so let your hair down this December and have some festive fun!

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With Christmas fast approaching the capital’s dedicated party planners, Late Night London, commissioned a festive survey to find out what their customers would class as the ‘ultimate’ Xmas party, with some surprising results.   What is the worst thing you have witnessed at your office Christmas party…?

Amongst the list of responses to the question ‘what is the worst thing you have witnessed at your office Christmas party’ were tales of extramarital trysts, inexcusable ‘dad’ dancing and long inappropriate speeches from senior management as well as other more common well-oiled antics.

A total of 1,480 people completed the survey with 16% of people admitting that their company didn’t actually hold a Christmas party. To counteract this 14% of people surveyed admitted that their company bucked the scrooge mentality brought on by the recession by budgeting a generous £6,000+ to their annual festivities.

Weeknights proved to be the most popular time to host office parties; with 64% of respondents preferring it to be held on a Friday night so that they would not need to struggle through the next day at work. 57% of people felt that a disco was an integral part of the evening’s entertainment and 85% preferred to dance the night away in their Little Black DressesLate or smart/formal wear rather than casual attire.

The survey also shed light into people’s working relationships with 90% regularly socialising with their colleagues outside of office hours and 30% experiencing the start of an office romance at their Christmas party.

Respondents were also given the chance to experiment with quirky ingredients to create their ‘ultimate’ festive cocktail; with many people concocting Christmas pudding inspired tipples. Strangely over 10% people nodded towards turkey and mince pie flavoured drinks with even stranger concoctions coming from respondents who preferred to quench their thirst with the taste of roast beef and brussel sprouts. 34% of people surveyed went for more traditional cocktails such as champagne, baileys, wine and daiquiri’s.

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The survey revealed that 51% of marketing staff and 46% of recruiters thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas party, seeing it as a great way to catch up with colleagues and get to know newer staff members.

Whilst these departments enjoyed themselves, the survey also showed that not everyone shares their enthusiasm for office celebrations – almost 40% of charity workers said they didn’t stay long because they don’t enjoy socialising with work colleagues. Retailer staff were the most likely to avoid the party altogether: almost a quarter (24%) said they made an excuse so they didn’t have to go at all!

Asked about the traditional “secret santa”, most workers were prepared to spend £5.50 on their colleagues. Graduate trainees were the most generous, with more than 25% being prepared to contribute over £10, whilst 32% of construction workers and almost 25% of IT workers said they’d prefer to pay nothing.

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The study of over 1,000 people from across the UK found that although a minority of people (5%) thought innappropriate office party behaviour should be encouraged, over half said it was potentially career damaging and should be avoided at all costs.

Innappropriate behaviour cited as being the worst included, being sick in front of your boss (47%), telling the boss what you really think of him (46%) and becoming drunk and emotional (40%), with some old favourites such as drunkenly resigning (37%) and photocopying a part of your anatomy (30%) also ranking highly.

Furthermore, results revealed that men cite telling your boss what you really think of him/her as the worst party faux pas whereas women rank being sick in front of your boss as the most potentially career damaging behaviour.

However, although it is universally agreed that innappropriate office party behaviour is damaging there is a difference of opinion across the UK. Workers in Northern Ireland are most anti bad party behaviour with 64% saying it is career damaging, 57% of Scottish workers agreed as did 55% of North Easterners however, Welsh workers said that although bad office party ettiquete should not be encouraged 39% said it was just harmless fun.

Louise English, Marketing Director from Singles365.com commented: “We put this research together to really find out what workers worries and fears were approaching the party season and the results clearly show what the hazards can be at a Christmas party. As expected being too drunk and emotional is high on the list however, it was interesting to see that people generally were worried about telling the boss what they really think!”

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