Who doesn’t like a good party? If you’re a business owner or HR manager, it’s like that you likely have some mixed feelings about parties, especially within the context of the workplace. On the one hand, you want to be able to host events that celebrate your company’s accomplishments and bring employees together outside of work. On the other hand, these kinds of events can often be an obstacle course for HR departments to navigate. Ensuring your holiday party is a good time for everyone not only involves planning a wide variety of activities and offering enough refreshments, but it also means ensuring everyone attending is still acting within company policy and that each employee feels included and welcome. Unfortunately, this can often feel easier said than done.
At Payday HCM, we’re very familiar with the obstacles that come with planning a holiday party for your business. This time of year, we frequently have clients asking us questions about how to plan a party that is fun yet still compliant and inclusive. While each business is unique and will therefore have its own unique set of problems to solve, there are still some general strategies that businesses can employ during this time of year to ensure their company celebrations are a good time while still remaining compliant.
So, in this article, we’ll be going over some strategies that businesses can employ to ensure a safe and fun holiday party. We’ll be covering this topic in three general phases:
- Planning Your Business’s Holiday Party
- HR During the Holiday Party
- After the Holiday Party and Company Policies
Throughout these sections, we’ll cover what businesses can do to ensure their holiday party is something that’s worth celebrating.
Planning Your Business’s Holiday Party
Firstly, we’ll go over the steps you can take to begin ensuring your holiday party is safe and compliant right from the start of the planning phase.
Holiday Party Planning Committee
One of the most crucial components of a successful office holiday party is inclusivity. Ultimately, a holiday party is meant to celebrate not only the holiday season and all the accompanying holidays but also your business’s accomplishments throughout the year. This celebration should encompass everyone’s accomplishments and help everyone feel seen and celebrated.
To do this, you can create a holiday party planning committee that is made up of a diverse array of members across different departments and titles. Ensuring you have as many voices being heard at the start of the planning process can ensure not only that the work is spread evenly across multiple people, but also that your party is inclusive of everyone in your organization.
Location, Transportation, and Communication
Location, transportation, and communication can be thought of almost as the three core tenets of any successful holiday party. Like the planning committee, a thoughtful location, adequate transportation, and sufficient communication can ensure an inclusive and successful office holiday party.
For starters, you’ll want to ensure the location of your holiday party is as accessible as possible, especially if you host your party at a location other than your business location. This can also mean providing transportation to and from the party venue, something that’s also important when considering serving alcohol at the party (but we’ll cover that a little later).
Last but not least, adequate communication regarding your business’s holiday party ensures that everyone is aware of the party and is able to attend. Sending out emails, announcements during meetings, physical flyers or invites—these are all great methods for ensuring proper communication regarding the party.
HR During the Holiday Party
Now that we’ve gone over the planning phase of the office holiday party, we’ll cover the kinds of things HR should consider during the party.
To Serve or Not to Serve
Probably the biggest question (and often the biggest HR headache) is whether or not alcohol will be served at your business’s holiday party. Obviously, the easiest way to avoid any problems is by not serving alcohol. Of course, a crucial element of the holiday party is the celebration and letting loose at the end of the year, and serving alcohol can help contribute to that.
So, if you choose to serve alcohol at your party, there are some steps to mitigate any potential issues, including:
- Host the party at a third-party venue that serves alcohol or hire a third-party to serve alcohol.
- Limit the number of drinks per person (provide employees with a limited number of drink tickets).
- Provide and plan other activities during the party.
- Offer adequate alternatives to alcoholic beverages.
- Provide transportation to and from the party venue.
Taking these steps can help you and your HR department ensure no issues arise during the party and that everyone has a good time.
Plus-Ones and Monitoring Guest Behavior
Businesses and HR departments can also employ other methods for limiting the potential for problems at the office holiday party—this includes allowing employees to bring a plus one or guest to the party and monitoring employee behavior. Both of these can ensure everyone is having fun and acting appropriately.
Allowing employees to bring their spouse or plus one to the holiday party can not only help to increase party attendance, but also they can help serve as a buffer for employee behavior. HR departments can also recruit members of other departments to help monitor employee behavior throughout the party.
After the Holiday Party and Company Policies
Finally, we’ll go over some considerations for HR departments in regards to what happens after the holiday party as well as other related company policies.
The Question of the After-Party
Oftentimes, office holiday parties go over without a hitch—it’s the after-parties, however, where issues can arise. Ultimately, there isn’t much that employers or HR departments can do when it comes to reducing problems at events taking place after the official holiday party. There are still some steps employers and HR departments can take, though, to limit these issues.
If you’re hosting an office holiday party, you should encourage employees not to plan any sort of after-parties or post-holiday party events to limit any potential issues arising. You should also take steps to ensure employees understand that any events or parties taking place after the official holiday party are not sponsored by you as the employer.
HR departments can also take steps in the days or weeks after the party to solicit feedback from employees who attended to find any potential problems they can address either in planning the party for next year or ones that need to be addressed right away. The feedback process can also provide employees with a safe forum for expressing any possible incidents that may have occurred.
Helpful HR Policies and Procedures
There are other policies and procedures that HR departments can employ that aren’t necessarily directly related to a holiday party but are helpful nonetheless. Employers should ensure they have a comprehensive code of conduct as well as anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.
Before the party, employers should either deploy or re-circulate these policies, ensuring total understanding among all employees. Employers and HR departments should also make any punishments relating to violations of these policies clear, as well as establish processes for reporting any incidents in a manner that employees feel comfortable with.
Celebrate Responsibly This Holiday Season
The end of the year is a time that’s in equal parts for celebrating and working hard. Amidst all the various celebrations and get-togethers that may be taking place in the office, you’re also having to push through to get those clients onboarded or continue to handle the holiday season foot traffic. In short, things can get rather stressful rather quickly. This stress can spread to things like planning your company’s holiday party, especially when it comes to ensuring your company’s party is fun while still comfortable for all to attend. With the information provided in this article, you’ll be able to ensure your business can make room for celebration that is compliant and fun for all.
Planning your business’s holiday party can feel like the finish line after weeks of work leading up to the end of the year. This is because the various processes and procedures that your business needs to go through during year-end can be stressful and sometimes overwhelming. This is especially true if you’re unsure of all the different things your business needs to do heading into the end of the year. Check out our article for a year-end overview for businesses so you can ensure you’re business is prepared for every step of the year-end journey.
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