Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.
AIA

Recession: The grinch that stole Christmas?

by
18th Dec 2009
Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

Is the recession an excuse for companies to call off Christmas for their employees? Charlie Duff identifies the key issues this festive season.

This year, more than any other, businesses are concerned about how they are seen to be spending money. In a recent poll conducted by the Chartered Management Institiute (CMI) over half of managers (58%) agreed that an expensive party could damage their organisation’s reputation.

The research also discovered that half of managers believe that a ‘team lunch is better than an organisation wide party. The results show that employers are being cautious about the amount being spent on end of year celebrations. 41% indicate they are happy for time to be taken for a Christmas party, but will make no financial contribution. 34% have agreed to pay up to £40 per head.

Two thirds (65%) of managers across the UK believe that Christmas parties are important in helping to improve employee engagement. In autumn the organisation reported a 42% decline in employee engagement caused by the recession.

The latest survey, of 1,337 managers, found that 66% claimed that the office Christmas party is vital to recognise the hard work of staff undertaken throughout the year. A slightly higher proportion of managers (71%) also believe end of year celebrations should continue in spite of the recession: three quarters of managers argued that a warm approach to Christmas ‘is good for staff morale’.                                                                                         

Ruth Spellman, CMI chief executive, said: “There are too many examples showing that the poor quality of management and leadership in the UK lies at the heart of the disengaged workforce.  Our research shows that end of year festivities are clearly still of great importance to the UK workforce but the survey raises an interesting dilemma for UK organisations. How can employers say ‘thank you’ without incurring the wrath of the wider public? The answer is that employee engagement has never been as important as it is now, but it must come hand-in-hand with a tighter grip around the purse strings.”

Consider how you reward this Christmas
Mark Paskowitz, a senior consulting partner with The Ken Blanchard Companies said: “In this tough economic year, everyone’s focus has been on money, money, money,” says Paskowitz. “Businesses have been so focused on successful recovery by evaluating strategic and operational issues that they’ve forgotten to take a minute out to recognise the people working so hard alongside them. And if there’s one thing worse than not getting your expected Christmas bonus, it’s getting no Christmas bonus and a boss who acts like they don’t care about you either.”
 
“I’ve been into organisation after organisation recently, meeting people who’ve been working incredibly hard to pull their companies out of the red and back into the black,” he reports. “Yet whenever I’ve asked how many of them get too much praise at work, no one ever raises their hands.”

Paskowitz insists businesses need to re-focus on reward and recognition immediately, particularly in the run up to Christmas when people traditionally expect their employers to give back. He says organisations that don’t take the time to thank their people are depriving them of a deep-seated human need: if people don’t get the recognition they need in any walk of life – relationships, family life or work - trust, credibility, and a feeling of connection diminishes rapidly. Once this happens in the workplace, performance always suffers - slowly at first, in small, almost imperceptible ways - but then it starts to build. Eventually, people stay at work physically, but quit emotionally.
 
“There is a huge difference between people showing up at work and people doing their best at work,” says Paskowitz. “When I ask people to think about the best and worst leader they’ve ever worked for, they consistently remember their best leader as one who acknowledged and recognised them.”
 
“I’m not suggesting cash bonuses aren’t a good idea. I’m no Christmas Scrooge!” he says. “I just know it’s a mistake to think people only want monetary recognition. This will drive short-term behaviour, yes, but to create long-lasting impact, leaders should look at more durable factors driving intrinsic motivation. The trick is to find out what drives each person individually, then take time out to talk to your them, find out what their likes and dislikes are, what they enjoy doing. Then you start building a relationship that shows you are genuinely interested in that person.”
 
“People are starving for time with their bosses,” he adds. “They want an opportunity to be listened to and to be involved in what’s going on in the company. Just a few minutes on a regular basis can make all the difference to individual performance and loyalty.”

The comments from Paskowitz beg the question - why not start this Christmas with a team lunch and sit down and spend time with your team? Then try to make meetings - informal or formal more regular for 2010. there are other ways you can keep in touch with your employees too - a new year resolution to make better communication a priority could make a big difference in your organisation.

This article was originally published on our sister site,
HRZone.co.uk.

Tags:

Replies (1)

Please login or register to join the discussion.

avatar
By lenny
23rd Dec 2009 10:11

The season to be jolly

I agree that regular meetings are a good thing and a way to bring any items to the table that may not be resolved on there own, but the Christmas party is a must even if it is only an informal lunch and an hour or two of relaxation perhaps a DJ and some dancing. Let them know that you appreciate what they have done this year, a big thank you, lets forget the recesion for a day or two.

 

Tis the season to be jolly after all!

 

Merry Christmas

Thanks (0)