Finance Professionals like to christmas party

- Six out of ten believe company Christmas parties or dinners are successful

- One in five companies use parties for work announcements

- One in three companies do not have a separate entertainment budget

Finance and HR professionals in companies around the world see the merit of office-based Christmas parties or dinners, according to new research released today [12 December 2005] by leading recruitment consultancy Robert Half Finance & Accounting. The survey was conducted with 1,800 finance and HR professionals in 11 countries around the world and provides an insight into office based events and how they are viewed.

Its chief finding was that Christmas parties or dinners top the list of successful office events paid for by the company and the UK is no exception with 60 per cent of respondents putting it top of their list. Interesting those in the Netherlands and Czech Republic do not agree and prefer company away-days to the more traditional party, with 43 per cent of respondents putting these days top of the list.

The research reveals interesting disparities between finance and HR professionals around the world when it comes to other ways of bonding with colleagues:

- Team-building events are the second choice for those in Germany (25 per cent) and the UK (17 per cent);

- A regular drink with colleagues comes second for those in New Zealand (24 per cent), Ireland (15 per cent) and Australia (15 per cent);

- Company away-days follow Christmas parties for those in Belgium (33 per cent), Luxemburg (32 per cent) and France (16 per cent);

- Apart from the Christmas party, the Italians do not see the merit of office events with 27 per cent of respondents believing that no event is successful.

Phil Sheridan, Managing Director of Robert Half Finance & Accounting, comments:

îOur survey reveals that overall finance and HR professionals clearly believe in the merit of holding Christmas parties for staff. For many of us the office Christmas party is the chance to celebrate achievements and successes over the past year and to look forward to the year ahead. However, this Christmas I would urge staff to remember that it is still an office event and they should act accordingly and keep their professionalism in tact until the last.î

When it comes to the Christmas party itself, only one in five companies in the UK (21 per cent) use the event as an opportunity for office announcements such as business results. This falls to only 13 per cent of companies in Ireland but rises to 58 per cent for those in the Czech Republic and 44 per cent in Germany.

The survey also indicates that one in three companies in the UK (30 per cent) do not have a separate budget for parties and hospitality, with this figure rising to 64 per cent of companies in Italy. The Czech Republic leads the way when it comes to money with 89 per cent of them having a separate entertainment budget.

HR departments are typically in charge of organising corporate hospitality in the UK (22 per cent) but that role falls to the CEOs assistant in Luxemburg (33 per cent) and staff associations in France (30 per cent) and Germany (23 per cent).

For a full copy of the survey results visit: