Most business stories about alcohol at company events talk about how to keep our hard-partying co-workers from getting embarrassingly inebriated. Communication researchers at North Carolina State University and Texas State University, however, recently interviewed successful, non-imbibing professionals to learn how they get around drinking alcohol in the company of co-workers. From the press release:
"Drinking can be a big part of workplace culture, and being viewed as an outsider for any reason can hurt you professionally," says Lynsey Romo, a communication researcher at NC State who led a recent study on the issue.So what are these strategies, exactly? First, the non-drinking employees surveyed do not tell their co-workers that they do not drink alcohol. Instead, they might say something like, "I'm not drinking tonight" (or any other night, for that matter...) or they might say, "I've got an early day tomorrow" (so I'll pass, thanks)."In our study, we interviewed successful professionals who don't drink," Romo says. "We found professionals felt that being a non-drinker was a form of deviance. Because they did not want to miss out on the career opportunities that come from networking and socializing, or because attending such functions was a job requirement, non-drinkers developed a variety of strategies to attend social events without making themselves, their co-workers, or their clients feel uncomfortable."
Some non-drinking employees will accept an alcoholic beverage to have and to hold, but never to drink. Essentially, they stand there with drink in hand until it is eventually left fully abandoned on a table when nobody is looking.
Other professionals surveyed will cite health reasons, or they will say they're on a diet and don't need the extra calories.
In sum, the researchers encourage HR departments to consider the needs of the company's non-drinkers, who might be feeling forced to come up with creative excuses at the company party to fit in better. Now that's a sobering thought, huh? Management can also foster a workplace culture in which employees feel like they can be themselves, and where employees grow more tolerant and accepting of each other. I'd be the first to toast to that workplace trend.
The fascinating study, entitled "An Examination of How Professionals Who Abstain From Alcohol Communicatively Negotiate Their Non-Drinking Identity," appears in Journal of Applied Communication Research.
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