On- and offline: How much proximity to the boss is desirable?

How much closeness or distance from the boss do employees want, and how much of that contributes to a good working relationship? Should superiors become Facebook friends? What about offline networking, such as the classic after-work beer? Who wants to sit next to the boss at Christmas dinner - or just not?

On behalf of Xing Switzerland, the market and opinion research company Marketagent.com surveyed around a thousand working people in German-speaking Switzerland on their relationship with their colleagues and superiors - with interesting results:

Networked with the supervisor?

Just under one in two people network with their bosses on social media, while the other half (52 percent) deliberately do not do so, although the proportion of women (57 percent) is significantly higher than that of men (48 percent). One interesting aspect: the higher the income, the more likely the respondents are to network with their superiors. For example, 39 percent of the highest-income group are connected with their supervisors via professional networks such as Xing and only 19 percent via private networks such as Facebook. Lower-income participants, on the other hand, connect with supervisors via professional networks 13 percent of the time, but keep in touch via private social networks 28 percent of the time.

Four out of five connect with work colleagues

Professional contacts are maintained beyond the workplace: 80 percent of professionals network with their work colleagues via social media. The use of professional online networks to maintain contact with colleagues is more pronounced among men, at 37 percent. Among women, the figure is only 22 percent. On the other hand, the female gender uses networks such as Facebook or Instagram for this purpose significantly more often than men. In addition, networking with work colleagues via professional online networks is significantly lower among part-time employees (19 percent) than among full-time employees (34 percent). There is a lot of potential here, because part-time workers in particular can benefit from good networking when it comes to new job opportunities.

Please no beer with the boss - Bernese hold back

Slightly less than half of employees in German-speaking Switzerland (42 percent) go out for a drink with their boss outside of work at least occasionally. At 47 percent, employees in eastern Switzerland are the most open to having a beer with their boss after work. Employees in the Bern region, on the other hand, are much more reserved. At 35 percent, they bring up the rear. 28 percent of respondents from the capital region even say that they would not go out for a drink with their boss outside of work even if they had the opportunity.

Christmas dinner - every fourth person wants to sit next to their superior

Christmas dinner is just around the corner - a wonderful opportunity to have an informal end-of-year talk with the boss. But who really takes advantage of this opportunity? Of those surveyed, around one in four (26 percent) would deliberately sit down next to the boss at a company dinner if the opportunity arose. At 28 percent, men are somewhat more concerned about making contact. Among women, the figure is 25 percent. Career timing may also have an influence. Among the 35 to 39-year-olds, the proportion of those who would deliberately sit down next to their boss is strikingly high at 34 percent. Incidentally, only 12 percent of all respondents would actively avoid being close to their boss.

About the study

The survey was conducted in 2017 by the market and opinion research company Marketagent.com on behalf of Xing Switzerland using Computer Assisted Web Interviews (CAWI). The respondents were n=1,003 employed and web-active people in German-speaking Switzerland between the ages of 18 and 65. The survey participants were selected via a quota-controlled random procedure. The results of the study are representative for working people in German-speaking Switzerland.