It’s a classic in the working world. After a long and exhausting week, around 4:30 p.m. on a Friday, you find yourself dreaming of your couch. In a few hours, you will be able to vegetate in front of your television. The ace ! It was without counting on Ludovic, your indefatigable colleague from technical services, who seems to take the company for a summer camp. From his professional email, he organized what you dreaded above all: a weekend drink. You examine the list of participants, and you realize that your manager goes there too. With a sigh, you agree. You don’t want to go, but it’s time for the show. Damn Ludovic.
The scene, a thousand times reproduced in thousands of companies in France, is banal. So banal that even the highest court of the French judicial order had to position itself. In a stop published on November 9, 2022, the Court of Cassation considers that the refusal to adhere to the value “fun and pro of the company” could not constitute a legitimate reason for dismissal. In 2015, MKT has yet experienced it. Employee of the company Cubik Partners, he was dismissed for “professional inadequacy” in particular because he did not comply “with the necessary participation in seminars and weekend drinks”, which the Court of Cassation describes, on reading of the file, as “frequently generating excessive alcoholism”. Introverts, lovers of the clear separation between private life and work, and allergic to group outings are avenged: they don’t have to take part in the company’s festive events if they don’t feel like it.
The pot, a rite
Thanks to the gradual return to the office after months of imposed teleworking, the practice of pots has resumed, with an obvious virtue. “In our sector, consulting, we are quickly alone on our daily production, says Julie, project manager on the environment in the building sector. These moments of conviviality allow us not to be isolated.” A way to strengthen ties, at a time when employees – especially those in the service sector – remain glued to their screens. “The pot is a rite, explains Soufyane Frimousse, lecturer in management sciences at the University of Corsica. It is a very important act of socialization and social control: it establishes the rules of the community in which the employee evolves.”
Julie, however, sees most of these evenings as a chore, while “rarely a week goes by without spontaneous aperitifs being organized”. This frequency bumps into his daily life. “I know my rhythm. I know that I need a certain number of hours of sleep. The workload being what it is, I have difficulty hanging up the wagons every time”, describes the young lady. Aware of her limits, the 30-year-old has therefore given up on many of these outings. She is not the only one: according to a survey carried out in 2017 by OpinionWay for J’aime mabox and Privateaser, 59% of employees questioned indicated that they neverafterworks. Among them, nearly three-quarters of respondents said they would go directly home at the end of the day. But this rejection is not without consequences. Julie noticed it recently, on her way to her company’s end-of-year party. “I was out of step!, she exclaims. By missing pots, I missed information on the arrivals or departures of colleagues, but also on the progress of the projects of the different teams.”
A way to get noticed
Claimed as a moment of relaxation, the evening is actually an opportunity to gather information. Fanny*, employed in a large consulting firm, confirms this. Subscriber to afterworks, she sees them as a way to advance her career. “For us, these moments are an integral part of the work. We observe who counts in the box, she continues. They allow us to show ourselves in a different light and to bring us closer to the people who have the most responsibility in our company.” Those who take an active part in their organization are better perceived than mere guests. “I participated in the festival committee and I organized afterworks. I was thanked by my management”, says Fanny.
In this context, moments of fun almost become work. “L’after work is an extension of the field of work, believes Raphaël Liogier, philosopher and sociologist, university professor at the Institute of Political Studies in Aix-en-Provence. You cultivate the corporate culture beyond working hours, so as to make the actors always more available.” Fanny, who now regularly sees her colleagues outside company evenings, admits to getting more involved, driven by “the “group spirit”. “Coming from the United States, this state of mind took time to establish itself in France, but was deployed with the creation of start-ups, notes Marion Flécher, sociologist of work, author of a thesis on the world of start-ups. There is an almost managerial injunction to participate in these parties, which are now part of the company policy”.
The alcohol problem
In this court system, the playground of extroverts, employees on the reserve leave with a disadvantage. A way of thinking that has the gift of exasperating Luc*, a dashing thirty-year-old who works in the communications sector. “Many people live these evenings in the first degree, like the BDE (student office). It’s a way to increase their popularity, like at college,” he sighs. Those absent from company evenings and those who leave too early therefore risk finding themselves faced with an integration challenge. “The smaller the structure, the higher the stakes, believes Luc. This is reinforced for short contracts. This involves two things: lunch and a drink after work.” Luc likes his colleagues. The proof: he is the first to launch the lunchtime group discussions. But the consumption of alcohol, inseparable from nocturnal gatherings, exasperates him. “We quickly switch to something very French: to be fun, you have to drink. When I go there, I always want to have a Coke, but I order something else”, he describes. The use of alcohol can even be theorized. “One of the first things my manager said to me when I signed my first permanent contract, in another company, was: ‘I believe in management through alcohol'”, says Thierry, account manager. in a Parisian communication company.
Driving the spirit of enterprise, the party is also used as an argument of seduction. “During my job interview, I was clearly sold on the good atmosphere,” confirms Fanny. In large groups, the debauchery of resources deployed in business seminars and weekends can be a means of retaining talent. At the beginning of the year in early 2020, a video published by a start-up specializing in catering services for events, and in particular corporate parties, captured this state of mind well. “Chefing is the start-up that modernizes corporate events, which boosts the atmosphere of clubs and which, above all, solves the biggest problem at present, namely the disengagement of talent”, explained its CEO, Théobald de Bentzmann. “This sentence clearly shows that the niche is exploitable enough for companies to commit to it”, remarks Thierry, before ironically: “There are questions to be asked. Company talents leave and they respond by programming … more squash activities or a better caterer. It’s a bit ridiculous.”
The party, an ally of companies to retain the youngest? Maybe, but that’s clearly not enough to convince them. According to a Deloitte study carried out between November 2021 and January 2022, 53% of 18-25 year olds surveyed planned to leave their job within the year, as did 36% of 25-35 year olds. One of Fanny’s colleagues actually experienced it. “After a festive weekend organized by our firm, he confided to me: ‘With that, they have gained three months'”, laughs Fanny, before becoming serious again: “In the long term, that will not prevent him from leave”. And to organize a farewell party?
* The first name has been changed