The year is rapidly heading toward its conclusion, which means that small business owners should start thinking about how they’ll celebrate everything their employees accomplished over the last few months. In many cases, this means planning a special party of the entire staff so they can enjoy themselves while they look back at 2013.
Of course, there are a few dos and don’ts that entrepreneurs have to keep in mind once they start preparing their events. Below are some of the elements company leaders should take care to remember once the party planning truly gets underway.
Don’t make it mandatory or during work
While owners have good intentions by throwing parties for their workers, that doesn’t mean that employees want to participate. Some people don’t want to socialize with their colleagues and managers after their shifts end. In many instances, this is because November and December are hectic months with a great deal of holidays and many folks have plans to see their family and friends.
That’s why year-end celebrations shouldn’t be mandatory. Employees spend months planning how they’ll spend the holidays, which means a work requirement could be more of a monkey wrench than anything fun. Entrepreneurs shouldn’t demand anyone attend their parties – every event should be completely voluntary.
What’s more, festivities shouldn’t be held during work. Staff members may have too much on their plates in order to take hours out of their days in order to celebrate 2013’s conclusion with their associates. Parties should only occur after the traditional business day or on the weekend to ensure that no one will have to stop working in order to participate. Besides, small business owners shouldn’t do anything that would prevent their contributors from being productive or completing important projects before the end of the year.
The spirit of giving
Parties are a great time for small business owners to thank their staff members for their dedication and hard work. While the events themselves are a great start, company leaders also should consider giving tangible tokens of appreciation to their employees.
Corporate gifts can go a long way toward showing people that their efforts have been noticed and were valuable to an enterprise’s success. Entrepreneurs should distribute presents that workers will enjoy, but are still appropriate for the office.
For instance, customized notepads are beneficial because they’re unique and have everyday functionality in the workplace. Recipients can use the gifts to keep all of their notes organized in 2014. Alternatively, personalized tote bags can ensure that employees can carry all of their daily necessities to and from the office without having stuff everything in their pockets.
Eat, drink and be merry
There’s simply no point in having a party if it isn’t going to have any food or drinks. Workers don’t want to attend corporate events if they’ll be hungry and thirsty the entire time. Company leaders need to have their year-end celebrations catered in order to ensure that staff members can enjoy themselves and will actually want to attend in the first place.
That’s not to say that everyone needs to have a five-course meal. As long as there is some type of food, most employees will be satisfied. Pizza, subs, salads and other basic dishes should be more than sufficient for keeping everyone happy and well nourished.
Small business owners can go the extra mile by allowing the staff to decide what to have at the celebration. An office poll will allow company leaders to determine what they should have served at their parties.