Are You Cancelling Your Festive Get Together?

With many of us back to “Working from home if you can” and with the increasing cases of Omicron, it seems counter productive to then ask our remote workers to come into a town or city by various modes of transport, to attend a Christmas Party or meal.  Sadly, for the hospitality sector confidence is waning and bookings are being increasingly cancelled.

So, if you are making last minute decisions to cancel and are looking for an alternative, I thought it would be helpful to share my ideas:

  • Perhaps you could simply postpone for a while until the situation improves or until the summer when an outdoor event would work well.
  • Provide a gift voucher to the value of the meal booked, or add the value to individual’s pay for them to spend on whatever they like.
  • Send your team members a gift – this could be festive food, treats or drinks, anything really, but time is running out to get those deliveries booked to turn up before Christmas.
  • Send everyone the ingredients or components for a virtual event such as wine tasting, cocktail making, gingerbread decorating or a craft kit, perhaps have a competition and awards for best attempts.
  • Host a virtual quiz or activity. In a previous lockdown I attended a virtual escape room with a group of friends (we got out!) and attended a Drag Queen Bingo session (it was such a laugh).
  • Organise a well-being walk. Have an outdoor event where you can wrap up warm, get outside into nature and fresh air and walk and talk, ensure there is a pitstop along the route for a hot chocolate.
  • Give everyone the option to have half a day off for Christmas Shopping or an early finish one day in January.
  • Pick three charities to donate the equivalent cost of the Christmas doo to and ask your team members to vote for which one to support.
  • Not so much a treat or gift, but some team members might appreciate some time off to volunteer for an organisation or charity close to their hearts, Christmas can be a tough time for many, and many charities need more help at this time of year.

With some of these you may just need to check the tax implications with your accountant.

Whatever you decide to do, just remember gratitude, feeling valued and praise for a job well done is so valuable, and this works both ways.

Thanking our employees is important, but employers spend a lot of time and put a lot of thought into events and gifting, a thank you from appreciative recipients goes a long way too.

Don’t forget, if you would like any help with your people management or planning in the new year, there is still time to book one of our free no-obligation discovery calls here, or download our Self-audit HR Checklist here

Wishing you a Happy and Healthy Christmas

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