I have just interviewed a lovely lady who asked me the question “What is a typical day in the office” to which I replied “No two days are ever the same”. Why? Well with the ever evolving industry we face new challenges, new ideas, new people, new laws and new trends, all on a daily basis. I think that’s one of the reasons why I like what I do. Once the systems are in place and communication channels are open the rest follows.
I feel this industry, more than most, is aware of what challenges the recent recession has delivered. After all what we do is the FUN side of Corporate, and, lets face it when the chips are down the ‘powers that be’ don’t want to be spending money on having fun, incentivising their staff and building team morale – instead they want to cover all bases and protect their investments. Many have even said that even if the budget is there they can’t be ‘seen’ to be having a shindig, “it’s just not politically correct”.
Okay, so I know there have been mass redundancies made across the board, I know times have been tough (still are for many) and I know that those staff that have managed to maintain their roles have worked their socks off to do so. For these reasons alone I think that employees need to be recognised – throw a Christmas party for your teams, if you budget for it now you’re a step closer to being able to achieve it. Mike Kershaw from the Concerto Group recently pointed out that ‘The Christmas party is not about ‘Fat Cats’ quaffing champagne at the companies expense, it is about the workers in the company (the back office, the security team, the post room etc) once a year being treated to an event to show the companies appreciation of their efforts. It is about recognition and appreciation.’ And how right he is… You know events don’t need to be extravagant, there doesn’t need to be too much waste and you can boost staff morale ten fold by making a bit of effort.
If Christmas is not in your remit then how about a little team building event, it really doesn’t have to break the bank – in fact prices can be as little as £25 per person now….yes really! And if you want to give something back to the community at the same time why not try ticking your CSR box and investing in a community based project whilst motivating your team, that way you can spread the love even further.
So don’t think that spends on events is wasteful….as it’s not. The events industry is a huge industry (£25 billion a year) www.tinyurl.com/362jx3f that employs hundreds of thousands of people across a multitude of businesses making it an important wealth to the economy and one we should be proud of.
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