With the holidays swiftly approaching, if you haven’t planned an office celebration, you are almost out of time. This time of year provides a unique opportunity to build employee connections, focus on morale, and end the year on a positive note. If you want to keep your workers engaged throughout the holidays, but are weary of boring workplace parties, consider some of the following suggestions.
A Remote Soiree
There are many ways to celebrate the holidays with your in-house staff. However, more and more employees are working remotely, so how do you bring them into the mix? This year, try hosting a virtual gathering! Allow the entire staff to work from home and hold a Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Hangouts to share the fun and festivities. These platforms have fantastic features that will let your staff feel connected even if they are not physically there.
Additionally, consider delivering a holiday party bundle to your staff. Include holiday decorations and a gift card to have supper delivered to their home. Everyone may eat, drink, and have a good time as the leadership gives out prizes or plays holiday-themed games! This type of effort will most certainly go a long way with your team, allows them the comfort of being at home.
Gentle Gestures
A basic concept that smaller businesses may readily implement might be to send a handmade, personalized card to each of your workers. This may not appear to be the most extravagant concept, but it may have a significant influence on your staff around the holidays.
A meaningful ‘Thank You’ note encourages employees. A small gesture, like as a customized letter, may go a long way toward making your staff feel valued and acknowledged for their accomplishments.
Book a Surprise Activity or Trip
Have you overheard your employees discussing a local activity or event they want to attend during the holidays? Perhaps there is an event taking place close to your city that would be ideal for a day trip? When you've decided on a day trip or activity in which all workers may participate, send an office-wide email a few days ahead of time informing teams of how to dress and what to bring.
You may, for example, plan a trip to a nearby maple syrup farm where your staff can bottle syrup or tap trees. Alternatively, there may be a spa nearby that offers group prices for massages or outdoor hot springs where everyone may spend the day relaxing.
Secret Santa
Nothing says Christmas like a Secret Santa! Allow all your employees to draw names from a hat and keep the present price affordable. If you want to spice things up, play white elephant and let others steal the nicest present.
Build Gingerbread Houses
Bring your sweet tooth and prepare to bond with your team while constructing the best gingerbread house ever. This is simple to implement because you can purchase gingerbread making kits and provide them to your employees. You could make it a little more difficult by holding a friendly competition at the end to determine which gingerbread house is the best!
Fundraise together for a charity.
There are several opportunities to give back at this period of enormous economic and social distress. You may bring your employees together for a good cause while building connectedness throughout your firm by having your organization conduct a competition to raise money for charity and then matching the amount raised.
Staff appreciation can frequently be overlooked, yet it is an essential component of any company's employee retention strategy. Show your staff that you care whether it's as simple as a handmade note or as extravagant as a large incentive. Employees must believe that you have their back. Though this appreciation should be a year-round effort, the employee appreciation techniques you use this year may help create a festive tone for 2023.
What other ways can an employer celebrate the holidays with their staff?