Call me sentimental, but I find it hard to imagine the holidays without company holiday parties.
That’s why I found the latest poll by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. so troubling. According to the survey, only 62 percent of the companies polled said that they’re planning to throw holiday parties this year, down from 77 percent a year ago and 90 percent in 2007.
Even worse, 10 percent of the companies surveyed held a holiday party last year but decided to cancel their party this year to cut costs. And of the companies that are going ahead with their plans to celebrate, 28.5 percent are planning to spending less–10 percent to 20 percent less on average–than they did a year ago. Many are saving money by dispensing with caterers and going BYOB.
Does this mean that your business should pull the plug on its holiday party this year? Not the way I see it.
To me, holiday parties serve several purposes. One is to give the people who work for you a chance to let down their hair and have a good time on your company’s nickel. Another is to reward your clients, vendors and professional services providers for sticking with you–especially in these very tough times. You don’t need to rent a hotel ballroom or spend big bucks on booze and hors d’oeuvres to say “thank you.”
If a holiday party isn’t in your budget for this year, consider taking your key employees out to a nice lunch or dinner. Gifts baskets are another way to show that you appreciate the people who work hard for you throughout the year. A bowling night or a trip to the movies could also fun. Unlike the bigger companies surveyed by Challenger, Gray, small businesses can afford to be more creative at less cost.
So before you scratch the holiday party off this year’s Christmas list, see if there’s someplace else in the budget you can cut. Because while food, wine and napkins do cost money, the holiday cheer that you spread will pay for itself in good will and fellowship all year ’round.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 10:32 am and is filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Leave a Reply
