According to new research by Office Angels, most employees (73%) rely on socialising with work colleagues for building positive working relationships.
Workers who regularly socialise with their colleagues are likely to be happier at work, have stronger team working skills and stay in one job for a longer period of time. Those questioned felt that going out with workmates was a good opportunity to talk through any work-related problems and increased their sense of team and company loyalty.
Over half (54%) of those questioned said they socialised with work colleagues at least once a week. Only 8% said they rarely went out with colleagues. Friday is still the most popular (52%) work night out, with Thursday coming a close second (44%).
The survey reveals that office gossip (56%), celebrity news (23%) and personal relationships (16%) are the most talked about topics on work nights out – with only 5% saying they talked about politics or current affairs with their colleagues.
When it comes to drinking habits, there is a predictable gender split. Nearly all the men questioned (98%) chose beer as their preferred drink on a work night out. For women, cocktails were the overall favourite with over half of those questioned (53%), closely followed by wine (41%). Only 4% of those questioned chose spirits as their preferred drink.
