Executive Recruitment
Have fun... but not too much!
2009 has been a bit of a slog for many of us in business in the UK and I can hear the distant clinking of glasses and shrieks of relief that are just around the corner as we all speed head long towards 2010 and our respective end of year or Christmas office parties. But, remember, even the traditional Christmas party can nowadays be fraught with danger for us as employers!
The temptation to let your hair down can prove costly as it has been estimated that festive hangovers could cost UK firms over £70m in lost working hours. We are also urged to make sure our staff do not injure themselves by dancing on desks or photocopying themselves - Managers have even been advised not to put up any mistletoe in case it encourages sexual harassment and I have heard of at least one case locally where a solicitor had been instructed to represent a ‘client’ involved in a fight at their Christmas party!
So, with such disastrous consequences, why bother at all…?
Well, at the risk of stating the obvious, the purpose of a Christmas party is to encourage team spirit, encourage relationships and to raise morale and let’s face it - we all know someone we work with that needs that this year!
The annual warnings from organisations such as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) will no doubt include the call to prevent staff from photocopying parts of their body because of the risk of glass in painful places if the machine breaks and warnings that dancing on office tables should be prevented because they are not as strong as those in a pub or bar – all fairly obvious stuff, and this is exactly the point. A lot of this is common sense, but in order to avoid incidents, companies need to lead the way in trying and moderate things.
Simple precautions include trying to limit the amount of alcohol employees can consume as most, if not all, incidents at Christmas parties, quite unsurprisingly, are caused by excess drinking. And what staff have to remember (but is so often overlooked) is that although many Christmas parties take place outside of work hours and away from the premises, technically it remains a work activity and people can still be sacked because of their behaviour.
You might argue that this year, more than any other, your staff have earned that end of year ‘knees up’ and you wont hear me arguing with that, but remember, the key word as always is ‘moderation’.
for more information contact Nigel Brewster at nigel.brewster@sewellm.co.uk