🐽 Office workers are pigs! Plus, for better or worse, the holiday party forges on

Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc.

WORKPLACE

Dens if iniquity

Getting drunk. Doing drugs. Dating managers. What the hell is going on in Canadian offices?

CANADIAN PROFESSIONALS ARE pigs, they’re treating their office like a feeding trough and it’s only getting worse― according to a poll by Express Employment, at least.

The poll, conducted by the Harris Poll of 500 or so HR professionals, returned some pretty funny results, painting the workplace as a den of licentiousness: 72 per cent of hiring managers said they have experienced employees getting drunk at work; 64 per cent said they are using drugs; 43 per cent said they have staff dating a manager; 50 per cent say they are being too honest (code for being mean); and (this one is actually kind of surprising), only 35 per cent say their employees are swearing at work.

They’re also chatty little piglets too, it seems, with 59 per cent sharing too much personal information, another 59 per cent openly criticizing the company or their coworkers, and 53 per cent gossiping in the workplace.

Yikes! What’s going on here? Has the Canadian worker gone feral since the pandemic (do recall a 2020 study that found that half of all remote workers were watching porn…on the company laptop no less)? Maybe. The rules seem to have gone out the window, RTO is unpopular to begin with, and if this study is to be believed, it’s manifested in widespread flouting of once-common etiquette conventions.

(Interestingly, though, the survey found that most people still agree that things like drinking in the workplace or shacking up with a superior are taboo ― they’re just doing them anyway.)

As for bettering the situation, Express Employment could do little more than remind employees that they are at work, not the flop house. “While workplaces have become more casual and honesty is highly valued, maintaining a level of professionalism is still essential,” said CEO Bill Stoller. “It’s about striking a balance where openness and respect coexist, ensuring a comfortable and respectful environment for everyone.”

CULTURE

The office holiday party lives on. Yay?

Hark the herald angels shout: 9 p.m. is too late to be out

DECEMBER IS UPON us, and with it comes the annual workplace holiday party, a time-honored tradition that, in recent years, has become more minefield than merry. But nevertheless, the office holiday party forges on ― even if the parties are set to look a little different these days.

There was definitely a time when the holiday party was easy: decorate the break room, wheel in the booze, set up the stereo and have at ‘er. However, modern sensibilities require a bit more tact, and more offices are turning to boutique events rather than boozy rangers.

“The attitudes of both employers and employees toward celebrating the season have changed,” said Cissy Pau, owner of Clear HR Consulting. “Parties that are less focused on seasonal connotations and involve, say, taking staff to an escape room or a trivia night are a way to avoid focusing on one cultural tradition or another. It makes the holiday party more inclusive.”

There is still an appetite to get together for the holiday season. A recent survey from ezCater found that eight in 10 plan to attend their holiday party this year. Eighty-two per cent of millennials and Gen Z said they would attend this year, and many are happy that the vibe is changing, too. Around 80 per cent said they prefer the more casual approach companies have taken in the last couple of years, and ezCater’s survey found that more than half of companies were planning parties with fewer than 100 people.

Organizations are shifting away from the sauce, too ― clearly suggesting that the increasing interest in sobriety is being reflected in the holiday party. One Toronto business owner has scrapped nighttime parties altogether, and instead hosts a dim sum lunch for her employees’ families. Others are making sure that if there is drinking, it takes a backseat. “Just drinking seems less interesting to a lot of people these days,” said realtor Bret Schillebeeckx in the Globe and Mail .

If you’re in charge of the holiday party this year (perhaps reading this with a pit in your stomach, wondering how you’re going to rescue this year’s celebration), here’s some advice from management consultant Robert Kovach. “I’d ask employers to consider what kind of culture they are setting, where they have workers who don’t want to come meet each other,” he told New Jersey Monthly. “And [ask themselves] what work do they need to do prior to make it a success, including asking their employees what kind of gathering they might want.”

No pressure…

Terry Talks: Strategies to reduce employee turnover

Minimizing staff turnover goes beyond merely retaining workers; it involves fostering a setting where employees perceive themselves as important, inspired and in harmony with the company’s objectives. There are many ways to address reducing turnover and steps that decision makers can take to tackle this issue in their own organization, and establishing strategies and acquiring techniques lower turnover is crucial for establishing a robust, involved and effective team.

WATCH HERE

CONSUMERISM

As sure as today is Cyber Monday, employees are shopping from work

Shopping at work on Cyber Monday? Your boss actually might not mind

THIS NEWSLETTER HITS your inbox around 3 p.m. on Mondays, so I’m willing to bet that a good chunk of you reading this will have already done a bit of online shopping today ― it’s Cyber Monday after all.

And you’re not alone ― over half of all people do, and even more spend a bit of company time browsing the sales, whether they purchase anything or not. What you probably didn’t know was that this is entirely by design ― Cyber Monday itself was cooked up to target people on their work computers.

The first official Cyber Monday was marked in 2005. It was an age where home internet could still be a little slow, and Ellen Davis, a VP at the National Retail Federation, coined the term when their data showed that around 40 per cent of people were doing their online shopping at work during the holiday season. “Experts believe that an increase in web traffic could stem from the fact that consumers now have faster or more secure internet connections at work and choose to shop there,” Davis wrote.

Department store historian Michael Lisicky echoed that. “A third of us were probably still using dial-up with AOL tones,” he recalled. “We weren't connecting in with what our businesses were needing to get those new computer systems going, and that was a better way to get people used to shopping online.”

And so, Cyber Monday was born, and later grew into the retail behemoth that you might currently be in the middle of.

What’s an employer to do? Well, you can take steps to choke off certain websites, or post new internet use policies, or, as Monster.com suggests, you can just roll with it.

“As an employer, you may be doing far more damage to employee morale by imposing strict rules around internet use and online shopping ― and ultimately, this may result in even less work being done, as employees look for other ways to shop,” they wrote. “Sometimes an employee who saves hundreds of dollars shopping is a happy employee.”

REMUNERATION

Afraid to ask for a raise? You’re not alone

The majority of Canadians feel underpaid. So why do we fear asking for raises?

FEELING A BIT pinched as the year winds down? You have plenty of company, with recent surveys finding that around half of all Canadian professionals are feeling underpaid, with roughly the same proportion reporting that they didn’t receive a salary increase this year.

“Salary continues to be the biggest priority for professionals, as cost of living remains top of mind,” said David King, senior managing director of Robert Half in Canada. “More than nine in 10 professionals are concerned about inflation outpacing salary growth, while 51 per cent report feeling underpaid.”

That may have something to do with the fact that a lot of people didn’t get a raise or a bonus last year ― more than four in ten according to another survey by FlexJobs and 23 per cent received a smaller one than normal.

But are people being pushy enough? Stats suggest no. People simply aren’t asking for raises as much as they probably should, suggested the FlexJobs report. Thirty-eight per cent of all workers said they have never asked for a pay raise, and among those that have, they usually only ask for it during performance reviews, or once a year.

“Asking for a raise can be daunting, but it’s important to advocate for your worth in the workplace,” said Toni Frana, lead career expert at FlexJobs. “While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to how often to request a pay increase, remember that it is a critical part of any successful career strategy.”

However, FlexJobs’ report found that there’s some evidence to suggest that things might be changing, particularly because of a trend we’ve seen building over the last couple of years: increased willingness to discuss salary openly. Forty-one per cent of employees said they now discuss salary with their peers ― not a majority, but definitely more than in the past.

“It isn’t surprising to see an elevated number of folks sharing their salary information more willingly,” Frana said. “Workers can [now] be better informed on wage discrimination and what’s considered as fair compensation for their role.”

Moral of the story? Speak up and go bag that raise.