The funniest Christmas card I received last year was from one of our regular correspondents. "The worst part of the company Christmas party is finding a new job the next day," it read.
A Reuters story on MSNBC reported this week that some 20 percent of us get drinks with our coworkers at happy hours, and--gasp!--sometimes things get out of hand. This will come as no surprise to those of you whose labs resemble "Gray's Anatomy," or better yet, "The Young and the Restless." And in my experience, no lab is without its fair share of personal drama.
The survey of nearly 7000 full-time employees found that 16 percent of people admitted bad-mouthing a colleague during after-work drinks, and 8 percent say they kissed a colleague during happy hour. My favorite: 4 percent of survey respondents "confessed to singing karaoke." Twenty-one percent of people who attend happy hours say they're good for networking, but 85 percent said that their after-work efforts haven't helped them get closer to supervisors or get a better position within their company.
Harris Interactive did the survey earlier this year on behalf of CareerBuilder.com.
Does your lab have a regular happy hour? Do you go? Do you think it helps with collegiality, morale, and/or networking?
