Posted by Kerry White on 20th December 2013.
It’s that time of year again where Christmas parties, Secret Santa and Christmas shopping is in full swing. This week is the busiest week for work Christmas parties but sometimes people take the celebrating a bit too far….
The Daily Mail back in December 2011 wrote:
“Those who work in human resources are the most likely to have a liaison, with 55 per cent admitting to having kissed a colleague….. but when it comes to really letting their hair down, travel and leisure workers are the most likely to strip, with one in ten admitting to doing a naked flash at their Christmas bash!!!”
Negative press about Office Christmas parties include fighting with colleagues, health and safety accidents and over half of employees admitted to passionately kissing the boss or a colleague at the annual do!! Plus we’re all used seeing pictures in the press of drunken footballers on the tube dressed as Super Mario or The Incredible Hulk.
But what about the all the Christmas Parties that are talked about for months after for the right reasons? Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane recently held a star studded party with real snow and a Ski lodge where guests included Hollywood actors Sean Penn and Charlize Theron.
To me, Christmas parties are a way of thanking staff for all their hard work for the year, building internal relationships and giving the staff the chance to “let their hair down a bit”. The offer of a slap up meal and a disco afterwards, or being whisked to Brussels for the day as we were this year, should be a fantastic way of showing staff that a business cares about their staff and want to reward them.
No one wants any nasty post-Christmas party fallout and organisations do have a duty of care for their employees, but with a little bit of careful planning such as communicating expected behaviour, organising transport, and if there’s booze, make sure there’s food to soak it up!! You can then make sure staff have a fun and festive party which is remembered for the right reasons!!
