Why Is An Office Party A Good Idea?
When you run a business, and you know that saving money has to be a priority, especially if you’re coming up to a traditionally lean time (or you’re simply being cautious about the future), then the idea of an office party might seem like an unnecessary extravagance. After all, it’s going to cost you – or rather, the business – money, and if it’s not going to do anything positive or achieve any goals, what’s the point?
Well, it might surprise you to know that an office party can be a good idea for all kinds of reasons, and although it will cost you money, that can often be money well spent – you could even think of your office party as an investment because of the good that can come from it. With that in mind, keep reading to find out more about why an office party is a good idea.
Ideal For Team Building
In normal everyday working life, it could be that your team doesn’t really interact with one another. They might talk to the people they’re working with in their own department, and they might email other departments with requests for tasks and information, but that’s not the same as really getting to know people. And, of course, if you have a remote team, it’s even harder for them to interact properly with the people they work with.
Something that’s going to help is team building events, where normal work is forgotten, and your employees get to spend some time together outside of work, doing fun (but often useful when it comes to teamwork) tasks.
What could be better than that? The answer is an office party where there are no tasks, and everyone can just spend time together and have fun. If you want your team to get to know one another and work well together, throwing a party could be the answer you’re looking for.
Celebrate Achievements
You don’t have to have a reason to throw an office party, and you can do it at any time of the year (Christmas is a popular choice) you want. However, if you do want a reason, why not wait until your company has something to celebrate and use the party as a reward for everyone’s hard work?
Businesses survive on the backs of their employees and the work they put in, so if someone – or a team of people – has done something excellent that has boosted your business, it makes sense to celebrate that achievement by throwing an office party and letting everyone know how pleased you are with how people have done.
Not only can you really go to town with your celebrations by hiring a DJ, providing food and drink, and even investigating red carpet rental, but you could have a small awards ceremony within the party to give out prizes, bonuses, vouchers, and so on. Your team will know you appreciate their hard work, and they’ll work even harder as a result because they know you’ll reward them with a great party and other benefits. As we said before, this is how an office party becomes an investment; despite the cost, your team’s productivity (and therefore your profits) is sure to increase.
Reduce Stress
People can get very stressed at work. They’re trying to do their best and making sure they’re achieving all their goals, and that can put a big strain on them. It’s easy to see why burnout is such a big problem within businesses, and how it can cost business owners a lot of money when some of their employees are too exhausted and stressed to work and need to take a long time off to recover.
The problem is that sometimes, no matter what you offer in terms of a good work-life balance or breaks or vacation days, your team might still be stressed and they might still be working far too hard. It’s all but impossible to stop them, but a party might help.
At an office party, your team won’t be thinking about their work for once, and they’ll solely be focusing on having a good time, especially if you hire a venue rather than have the party literally in the office (which might not be so relaxing because the specter of work will still be there). Even if it’s just for one night, that short time of de-stressing can do a lot, and it might be the catalyst to show your team that they can take some time off to enjoy themselves and their work isn’t going to suffer – and that you actively want them to have that time.
Create A Positive Workplace Culture
An office party is also a good way to show (and create) a positive workplace culture. It shows you’re there for your employees, and you want to take care of them, and it shows that you know how to make them happy.
That’s great for your current workers, as it means they’ll be more loyal and not look for work elsewhere (finding new employees and training them is time-consuming and expensive, so if you can keep hold of the ones you’ve got, that’s a far better option). It also means that when you do need new employees (perhaps because you’re expanding the business), it will be easier to find them.
When you have a positive workplace culture, you’ll have a great reputation, and your business will be the kind of place that attracts the top talent. When you have a vacancy, you’ll be able to choose from the very best candidates because the best people in your industry will be keen to work for you – you might even get applications on spec. This leads to excellent candidates and good workers who can take your business to the next level, rather than a handful of candidates who don’t really fit the bill but who you need to recruit to fill the role.
Final Thoughts
An office party takes a lot of thought and organization, but when you consider all the positive points above, it could be something that’s definitely worth doing.
