Things HR Needs To Keep in Mind At The Christmas Work Party
The festive season has begun and the much awaited annual christmas party is just few weeks away. Companies organise a christmas party for all their employees to mingle, celebrate the festive spirit and give all their employees a day to have fun with their colleagues.
A christmas work party is a great idea to get the team together for one day to blow off some steam, have a festive day with their colleagues, without any work to stress about, and build good work relationships.
However, there are some things that can also go wrong with a christmas party and this is where the HR needs to step in and set things straight. Here are some of the things that the HR needs to be on a lookout for, at the christmas work party.
- Drinking
It’s okay to have alcohol at the party and let people enjoy a glass or two of wine and other spirits. However, what’s not okay is having drinking games, binge drinking and inappropriate drunk behavior. HR should issue a cautionary notice ahead of the party that such behaviour is not acceptable and in case any forbidden activities take place at the party, there will be strict action against the concerned parties. Drinking games can cause binge drinking and excessive consumption of alcohol which can lead to inappropriate behaviour, making people uncomfortable. So it’s better to avoid such possibilities altogether. It’s also important to do this because christmas work parties also host the families and kids of employees, so it’s important to create an appropriate and safe atmosphere for them.
- Social Media
Everyone is going to post fun images on their social media accounts, which will also represent your organisation and hence, work as brand awareness for your organisation. Make sure there are no inappropriate photos on the social media from the christmas work party. To ensure that there is no need to have an uncomfortable and awkward conversation with any of the employees regarding their social media posts, send them few guidelines, along with the party invite, regarding any social media updates of the party. This will make them aware of the dos and don’ts of social media updates about the party in advance, before any damage is caused.
- Take Care of Everyone
The employee population of your organisation may be diverse. Some employees may not drink alcohol or eat non vegetarian food or may be from diverse religions following different dietary habits. It’s important that you accommodate the needs of employees from different cultures, religions and identities. If you want a count of how many people might need nonalcoholic beverages, vegetarian, vegan food etc., ask the employees to send their beverage and food preferences along with their RSVP to the party invite. This will give you plenty of time to accommodate all needs of a diverse employee population.
- Taking Care of Kids
If you’re inviting family and kids to the office christmas party, then you must make adequate arrangements of beverages, food and games for children so that they do not get bored and their parents don’t have to be constantly occupied with them. If the party is a bore for the kids without any games for them to enjoy, their parents will have to watch them constantly, making it less fun for them. So make sure you’re taking care of everybody who’s on the guest list.
Conclusion
The office christmas party is one of the biggest annual events of the office that all employees look forward to, because it is the one day that all office employees, along with their families are going to spend a day filled with fun, laughter, festivities and joy. So as the HR it is your responsibility to ensure that it is a day well spent for everyone at the event.
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