According to brewer SABMiller’s European Beer Drinkers Survey, British bosses are the most generous in Europe when it comes to socialising with staff after work. While French managers say ‘non’ to staff drinks, British bosses like to take their team to the pub and pay for post-work pints.
British businessmen and women boost morale the old fashioned way – at the bar, according to the survey. Bosses in the UK are Europe’s most sociable with 97% joining team drinks and one in 10 managers (10%) in the UK even insisting on paying.
But 7% of German leaders fail to join their staff socially. And one in five (20%) French managers never socialise with staff outside of the office.
Bianca Shevlin of SABMiller said: “We may work the longest hours in Europe, but British bosses are first to the bar on a Friday night and leave their European neighbours in the shade when it comes to staff drinks. The post work pint tastes even better when the boss is paying.”
The previous European Beer Drinkers Survey in 2008 revealed the end of lunchtime drinking in the UK with 6.14pm on a Friday night the new ‘Beer O’clock’ for UK workers.
In the past two years British workers have been hit by redundancies, but managers across the UK have realised that after-work drinks are the best way of keeping spirits up, particularly in the Midlands where almost half (41%) regularly pick up the tab.
However, British workers may be working too hard – just 55% now find the time to regularly join colleagues for a drink, well below sociable Spain where four out of five employees (80%) have recently enjoyed a work social.
“If you’d rather avoid your workmates our Europe wide survey reveals that you should head to Holland – the Dutch are least like to share a beer with their colleagues, although when they do the boss is most likely to pick up the tab,’ said Shevlin.
According to the research, Midlands managers are Britain’s most generous with well over a third (41%) regularly putting their hands in their pockets for after-work staff drinks.
Managers in the South were the beer-buying runners-up, with more than a third (38%) picking up the tab.
