Christmas parties – will it be wrong to celebrate?

Christmas parties – will it be wrong to celebrate?

Almost 90% of employees would prefer to have £50 gift voucher than a company Christmas party in 2020, according to a YouGov poll. 46% don’t want a party on whatever terms, compared with 24% who say they do.

In practice, other research by HireSpace has highlighted how 89% of employers are planning to have an online Christmas party this year. With virtual events now so commonplace, organisers are being urged to move beyond online Zoom quizzes and ‘virtual drinks’ events. More adventurous ideas being suggested include arranging a cook-along making festive foods, virtual cocktail making and wine tasting, virtual escape rooms and fun, collaborative games and sports, such as trying to set new world records together.

Hard cash

Media have also been reporting on a letter to Rishi Sunak from Labour MP Chris Evans about an alternative.

He has called for firms to be given the option of making tax-deductible Christmas cash payouts, to “make up for the odd working conditions of 2020…It’s win-win for everybody. The workers would get a few extra quid, it would be a morale booster for the company and it wouldn’t cost them an extra penny.”

Let it glow

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “The novelty of online socialising has lost much of its gloss over the past eight months. But the Christmas party is another of those events, whether everyone loves them or not, that are an important part of the annual routine and rhythm of our working lives. It’s a shared experience, a time to step back from ordinary work and its pressures and see each other as people – a chance for bosses to reflect on what everyone has been through in this painful year, to say thank you to a whole community for coping and getting things done together.

“There are all kinds of alternatives to the office party that can work, employers need to make a special effort this year to understand what’s going to be most appreciated, where the festive feel good factor is going to come from – some fun spent seeing each other online; socially-distanced time to feel some moments of real togetherness; a thoughtful gift or hamper.

“But it will be important that Christmas – a time when people can be most reflective about their lives and relationships, their state of mind and wellbeing – isn’t downgraded as less important.”