Holiday parties should be free of toil, and naughty toys
A friend of mine told me that her boss invited her and a bunch of other employees to his house for a holiday party.
It was a nice gesture, until she found out she had to cook something for the soiree. If any of the invitees were at a loss on what to bring, the boss gave them a food assignment.
Have we all lost our minds?
I like potluck as much as the next guy, but don’t your workers do enough for you during the year? Why the heck would you assign them yet more work when they’re supposed to be letting down their hair and relaxing?
Turns out, the evening was tense, and most employees couldn’t wait until the night ended. The day after my friend was still harboring resentment that she had to make like Julia Childs.
Another buddy of mine had the opposite experience.
A high level manager at her company invited her and her husband to a dinner at a fancy restaurant. The guy even brought bottles of expensive wine from his own private cellar to imbibe his employees.
She came home slightly inebriated and with a glow about the manager. “It felt great, especially since he took the time to choose wines from his special reserves and the stories he told about the wines wove into our work somehow. The personal touch was the best part for me,” she says.
So, which of my friends do you think will “over deliver” for their boss in the New Year?
I put “over deliver” in quotes because I recently attended
the Massachusetts Conference for Women and Jack Welch, the former CEO for GE, spoke about how workers need to “over deliver” for their bosses if they’re going to climb the ladder of success.
Great sentiment.
But sometimes the boss has to do some over-delivering. Or at least not expect workers to slave away in the kitchen when the big guy invites them to celebrate a year well done.
That doesn’t mean you should let your employees go wild.
I found a funny list of "don’ts" for small business owners when it comes to holiday parties from a London-based
small business site called Bytestart.
Here are the best of the bunch:
“
Tables and photocopiers: Dancing on desks is likely to cause damage to property and people. It amounts to misuse of company property. Make it clear that such activities will not be tolerated or that certain parts of the office are out of bounds on the night of the party.”
“
Decorating the office: Use a stepladder to put up decorations – not a swivel chair, warned the Trades Union Congress and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents recently. Don't hang the tinsel on computers or other sources of heat; and don't decorate emergency exit signs.”
“
Misguided by mistletoe: Your staff policies on bullying and harassment and discrimination still apply at the office party. This is one reason why mistletoe is dangerous.
The laws on discrimination apply at the office party regardless of location. So when one man told a female colleague, ‘You look worth one’ at an after-work leaving event taking place in a local pub, the tribunal had little difficulty in ruling that it was in the course of employment and therefore discriminatory.”
And finally, the gifts --
“If telling people to bring a Secret Santa gift, ask that all gifts are inoffensive. Some gifts – notably underwear and sex toys – have sparked complaints in the past.”
It just seems like life’s more fun in England.
