As this holiday season approaches, it is the time of year when we tend to gather and celebrate together. While there is great value in taking time off work and away from the rigors of our careers to spend quality time with our families, there is also a benefit in celebrating with those with who we work.
Whether it be a celebration of the year’s accomplishments or one to simply bring each other together in one place, holiday parties provide an opportunity to reinvigorate employees and remind them of the reasons why they chose to work for your company.
Whether you know it or not, your company has a culture. The culture is the personality of your organization—and it stems from factors such as work environment, management style, expectations, office design, company values and ethics, the company’s mission, and more. As a member of the leadership team, you can have a profound impact on changing and shaping the existing work culture to reflect your desires for the company—and one unexpected way to improve company culture is by throwing a well-orchestrated holiday office party.
A holiday party is a perfect way to get everyone together, from the senior executives to the interns. It gives people a chance to interact in a non-work setting and get to know each other better than just small talk in the office. It can be considered a team-building event without your employees even knowing it. A team works best when all the players know each other well and can effectively work together. Putting everyone in a stress-free environment, like having a great holiday party, aids in creating great relationships among co-workers—so they work better together.
Here are five benefits of hosting an office holiday party:
It Will Encourage a Sense of Community.
Camaraderie is the spirit of friendship and trust that can exist between people who spend a great deal of time together. When camaraderie exists in the workplace, team members trust each other and genuinely enjoy working together. This can increase collaboration, efficiency, and overall productivity.
It Can Give a Morale Boost.
The end of the year often consists of meeting many simultaneous deadlines, tying up loose ends, and pushing harder to meet end-of-year goals. Even employees at companies with strong cultures will often feel a dip in morale at the end of the year. Holiday parties are an opportunity to bring everyone together to celebrate the hard work, reflect on the actions that got them through the year, and ultimately take a load off and unwind together.
It Will Allow for a Variety of Co-Worker Interactions.
Holiday office parties create an opportunity for employees to mingle with people from across the company and serve as a reminder that people aren’t just in sales, customer service, or product development—they are all employees of the same company working towards the same strategic goals. While people tend to naturally flock to familiar coworkers, these kinds of gatherings provide the opportunity for your employees to interact with workers from other teams and departments.
It Provides Opportunities to Interact with Executives and Upper Management.
Especially in larger companies, some employees may have never met upper management or members of the executive team. If you want your corporate culture to include a sense of trust in company leadership, employees need to have opportunities to interact and build rapport with their management team. Holiday parties provide opportunities for employees to get to know managers and executives away from the pressures of the office—and employees are more likely to trust and approve of leaders they know personally.
It Can be a Time for Employee Recognition.
Often, the blood, sweat, and tears poured into a company—and the efforts put forth by its employees—can be unintentionally overlooked or unrecognized. A holiday party is a perfect time to recognize your team and their accomplishments—showing gratitude to all the people who help shape the company’s success.
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During this holiday season, and each that follows, celebrate the small wins, the big successes, and everything in between—and ensure that you are building community and culture within your organization. Have fun and enjoy the holidays while letting those that are part of your life and organization know how much you appreciate them.
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