One in three Brits describe themselves as unproductive in December

Recent research commissioned by Perkbox, Europe’s fastest growing employee experience platform, ahead of its 5 Golden Things campaign launching next week; aimed at sharing  tips around how to juggle both Christmas and work responsibilities, has found that one in three Brits describe themselves as unproductive in the run up to Christmas. Yet, quite controversially, 30% of them say they regret taking holidays too soon in December as they miss out on the great atmosphere in the office.

The research, which polled 1,000 working Brits, found that the second most popular office regret by employees around the Christmas season was drinking too much at the office party and regretting their acts afterwards, which was chosen by 27% of employees. This was followed by leaving too much work for after Christmas and feeling very depressed on returning, along with, missing out on the company Christmas party because of other commitments, which came in third and fourth place respectively.

With the month of December also being a stressful time for many trying to juggle work pressures with social events – the research also uncovered what employees find most stressful in the run up to Christmas. Top of the pile came buying the perfect Christmas present, chosen by a huge 35% of respondents and highlighting how the infringement of employees’ personal lives in the workplace is inevitable, particularly in the run up to Christmas.

In second place was trying to finish off work before the end of the year, chosen by 21% of employees. Whilst, trying to budget for presents, food and travel came in third place (14%). Interestingly, in contrast to this trend, 13% of employees said they don’t find anything in the run up to Christmas stressful. But at the other end of the spectrum was ‘too many social events to attend’, chosen as the most stressful thing in the run up to Christmas by 12% of employees Deciding what to wear for the Christmas party was the least of everyone’s concerns, chosen by only 5% of employees.

On a lighter note, employees’ favourite things about the Christmas festivities in the office are ‘drinking with friends’ in first place, followed by ‘eating delicious food’ in second place. From a workplace culture perspective, ‘celebrating the years’ successes’ ranked in third place, followed by ‘seeing directors having fun’ in fourth place.

Madlena Pozlevic, Employee Experience Lead at Perkbox says: “ I think we all would agree that it’s incredibly difficult to keep focus and momentum at work in the month of December. Between parties, work, travelling, planning and present shopping it’s near impossible to keep on top of it all. That’s why we’re launching our #5GoldenThings campaign to share some top tips on how to manage the stress associated with Christmas and make the most of the festivities – without sacrificing your work-life balance!”