So the weather outside is frightful and the distant sound of bells can be heard louder with every passing day. Black Friday has come and gone and panto is upon us, so yes, it’s safe to say the festive period is well and truly here.
That likely means HR teams across the country are trying to decide what kind of celebration to have this year to thank the workforce for their contributions over the past twelve months. Some may even be questioning whether to have one at all. That may seem counterintuitive but consider the current climate. The UK is months into a cost of living crisis which is only set to worsen as the temperature plummets and the likelihood of a recession continues to increase.
It wouldn’t surprise me if 2022 marks another year where celebrating the festive season is done without frivolities. Not only will businesses be acutely aware of their own budgets, but also how their employees perceive any expenditure. For HR teams considering doing away with the traditional Christmas party this year, it’s important to look at what employees and their families would both value and need right now. It likely isn’t a huge shin-dig and a free bottle of wine.
However, there will be plenty reading this looking at their calendar seeing an evening earmarked in their diaries in the next few weeks for the Christmas do (strikes permitting of course). I just hope the HR professionals responsible for planning the parties haven’t fallen into an oh so common trap…
Rewards, not awards
Christmas awards evenings. They happen in businesses across the country and I guarantee there are plenty of you that have scheduled them for this year already.
They might be popular because many want a full day of activities and lack ideas of how to actually fill the day. It could equally be that tying awards to the end of year is so ingrained in the mindset across the business world that it’s just a given. However, just because something is the norm, doesn’t mean it’s right. If anything, it’s quite the opposite.
Awards evenings providing recognition to those who have gone above and beyond for the business should be a celebration in their own right, not a bolt-on because it’s the festive season. What many don’t realise is that adding awards and recognition onto the Christmas party can actually reduce the power an awards evening can have. Public call outs for people, teams and projects are a hugely valuable part of a company’s culture – it shouldn’t be diluted by being part and parcel of a wider celebration. Especially if the parties happen to be laced with alcohol. Recognising amazing achievements, only for them to be forgotten by a portion of the team by the following morning thanks to a hangover really isn’t the way to go.
To really hammer home the point, I was tempted to use the lyrics to Last Christmas by Wham and replace heart with award but you’ll be pleased to see I didn’t. Although you’re now singing it to yourself aren’t you? I’ll let you finish before I continue.
Changing the culture
So, if awards and recognition aren’t to be bolted-on to the Christmas party then when should such events be scheduled in the calendar? The first key point here is that recognition shouldn’t be a one-off event, it should be part and parcel of the culture of the business all year round. Now obviously that doesn’t mean an evening a month dedicated to awards – that would certainly be overkill and would likely turn-off large portions of the employees who would rather spend the time with their loved ones. No, it can be as simple as employee of the month awards, supported by an appreciation box when people can send anonymous messages of thanks.
Equally, it could be digitised given the move to hybrid / remote working over the past two years. For example, we’ve introduced a ‘Happiness channel’ on Slack where colleagues can thank and celebrate each other by sending taco emojis. When an employee reaches 50 tacos, it can be converted into a Prezzee reward. Obviously, this means that every time someone has a birthday the virtual tacos do flow, but of the near 3,000 sent a month, most are a nod, a pat on the back, or simply a virtual hug. Having these types of initiatives creates a foundation of thanks upon which you can build a successful rewards programme.
So with these simple yet effective rewards in place, you can then look at more grandiose recognition events that ramp things up a notch – outside of the Christmas party of course. I hear you at the back, muttering about awards looking back over the year that’s been. So why not have the awards evening at the end of the financial year, rather than in December? Many companies in the UK adhere to the April to March tax year, so an awards evening in early April would do the trick. It marks a clear end of one chapter and the start of another, so why not use it as an excuse to celebrate what the team has achieved over the prior twelve months?
This may not work quite as seamlessly for those who have alternative financial years, but even if yours ends in December, ensuring there’s clear daylight between the awards evening and the Christmas party will have a clear impact on how recognition is received.
Pivoting plans
Christmas may only be a few weeks away now but unless you’ve gone all out and booked a venue specifically for an awards evening, it’s not too late to pivot plans. Rather than adhering to the status quo, the important thing is to take stock of what your team will appreciate the most, rather than bolting-on recognition to a Christmas party. It could be anything from a day time get together that doesn’t run into the next morning so they can still get home at a reasonable hour, or giving them a half-day to spend with their loved ones, alongside cost of living support packages. Delivering something that appeals to the team, rather than working on assumptions, will do a lot more to drive a passionate, motivated and happy workplace than taking up a significant portion of a Christmas party with awards.
