Once upon a holiday season, the words office and party went together like fruitcake and eggnog. The holidays ushered in socials when management, staff and spouses mingled to celebrate the season.
Kodachrome archives feature snapshots of a Santa-clad CEO passing out service awards. Other candids expose the sloshed smirks and dilated pupils of certain staff members simply passing out.
Every year, you could count on it: Somebody, emboldened by the good mood and good spirits, would use the office party as a highly visible arena in which to commit career suicide by doing something stupid. Such as sitting atop the photocopier in the mail room. Or getting a little bit too friendly with a co-worker under the mistletoe. Or giving the CEO’s spouse some unsolicited marital advice.
Some of these improprieties spawned enough water cooler whispers to keep the survivors talking right up until the Memorial Day picnic. Others brought litigious repercussions. These issues and others-such as an increasingly diverse work force and changes in the very way we look at work-made the result inevitable: a management scramble to revamp the holiday party or kill it altogether.
So these days, you can’t drink your martinis and have them, too. Especially if you plan to motor merrily away. Though some office parties are still held on site, the wise enterprise seeks an outside facility, and it’s not just to offer some variety. Employers are looking for shelters from liability and guarding against sangria stains on the reception area sofa.
One trend today is to curb alcohol intake by selling drink tickets, limited to two or three. Or to offer gift incentives for designated drivers. At some functions, alcohol isn’t even an option anymore. Boring? Often. But at some companies, the alternatives are more intoxicating than a double shot.
For example, Diebold Inc., The Timken Co., Galt Alloys Inc. and Accurate Door Systems Inc. are on to a concept that has little to do with peace on Earth and goodwill to all, though the employees seem to love it: Laser Quest parties.
It’s an interactive adventure in an 8,000-square-foot maze-like arena. The music pounds as competitors dart about, cloaked in a mist of dry-ice fog. The goal is to spot the red bleeps on opponents’ laser vests, blast first to rack up the most points, and run like heck to avoid being zapped yourself. You take a break for the company’s catered culinary recharge, then race back to blow away some more co-workers.
“It’s a great stress reliever and a good team-builder,” says Canton Laser Quest GM Greg Evanoff. “It’s like a video game, but you’re in it. It’s a blast to zap the CEO. Plus, you get to act like a kid and nobody cares.”
Beth Borda, president of the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, a division of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, says her department wanted to draw out the personalities of staff members, so they booked a Laser Quest party.
“We have a reputation as being fun and wacky, and we wanted to do something active during the day,” Borda says. In years past, the chamber has staged murder mysteries and dramas acted out by employees. One year, the holiday party consisted of a scavenger hunt in which search partners were tied at the wrists. Last year, a ventriloquist provided the entertainment by transforming staff into human puppets.
Kathleen Sunny, president of A.J. Sunny Entertainment, says that while she gets requests during the party season for all kinds of performers-from ventriloquists to violinists-she sees companies hosting fewer sit-down events, opting for interactive entertainment.
“We get many bookings for casino games and indoor sports games, such as radar golf, electronic pop-shot basketball, radar speed-pitch and virtual reality.”
Mercy Medical Center Public Relations Director Andy Gankoski says the hospital has shifted to creative, on-your-feet parties just for the fun of it.
“It’s a lot better than just sitting down to steak and broccoli,” Gankoski chuckles.
Last year, Chief of Staff Steven Ossakow, M.D. and retiring CEO Jack Topoleski inaugurated the medical staff’s holiday event at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where 400-plus guests amble through the interactive exhibits and the revolving theater. Ethnic buffets set up throughout the museum are designed to appeal to every pallet, and redeemable museum shop gift tokens serve as party favors.
“It’s a great party because it’s non-traditional. Having everybody roam around and interact in a fun atmosphere is more conducive to developing friendships,” says Ossakow. “Plus we get to promote one of our community’s greatest assets.”
To generate attendance at holiday functions-an increasingly difficult issue in these stress-charged times-some sly companies are arousing curiosity about what’s really in store for party goers. Last year, WHBC-FM radio invited employees and their families to, of all things, a wedding and reception. WHBC Vice President and General Manager Ray Hexamer says that when guests arrived at the Canton Club and were frisked by a bodyguard, they figured out that “Tony and Tina’s Wedding” was a staged comedy production of the North Canton Playhouse. But guests became prime players in the Mafia marriage as the 25 actors expertly elicited audience participation.
Even Hexamer acquiesced and performed his rendition of Elvis. “I wuz varry good, thank ya vary much,” Hexamer drawls, adding a lip curl for effect. From the nuptials to the chicken dance, the spontaneity sparked an inferno of giggles and guffaws. “The best way to describe it would be chaos,” Hexamer says.
Gas Light Productions is setting its sights on the big screen, says President Steve Yoder. “Since ours is a creative production company, we don’t want to do anything traditional, so we’re renting the Palace Theatre for a special viewing of The Christmas Story. To make the event memorable for the 100 guests comprising staff, families, clients, vendors and freelancers, Yoder is throwing in a catered feast, hiring a magician and scheduling a visit from the Jolly Old Elf himself.
So what do you do for your staff when their job is to entertain others? Year round at the Canton Museum of Art, obligatory luncheons and dinner parties make healthy eating a concern for staff, so food isn’t a priority at party time. Neither is entertainment, since the season brings so much of it to the cultural center. Executive Director Al Albacet says the staff makes its own entertainment by choosing an off-site location where they can “get down.”
“These people work hard and they play hard. We have a wild time,” says Albacet. Marketing and Development Manager Robb Hyde clarifies that, while it is a loose and friendly organization, no one has pulled the lamp shade stunt. Spouses aren’t included in the outing simply because it’s hard for them to relate to all the reminiscing that goes on.
“We close ourselves off in a room, tell stories about things that happened at the museum, laugh raucously if we want to, slap each other on the back and say whatever we want. We know that nothing goes beyond that room,” Albacet says.
Some organizations have abandoned the company holiday party altogether, adopting a benevolent approach. Dick Koons, president of Covey & Koons Inc., says that money formerly budgeted for company and client holiday parties is now donated to a charitable organization
“We send letters to the clients to tell them we’ve donated money in their names to AGAPE, a nonprofit organization that helps feed and and clothe the needy.” Koons says the clients and company employees are sold on the idea.
Employees at Timken’s Bearing Business Unit share the “Christmas is for kids” philosophy, says retired Timken employee Dan Belford. For the past decade, employees have set the stage for a breakfast with Santa by creating an elaborate lighting and decoration scheme at the Cherry Avenue site. Location Manager Barbara Miller and spouse Donald Miller portray Mr. and Mrs. Claus, listening to wish lists and bestowing gifts on the children
. Vice presidents and managers flip pancakes alongside staff. The event has become so popular that it draws a crowd of 500, including close to 200 employees and their children.
Holiday hoopla at United Bank is long gone, too. “We used to have an annual dinner around Thanksgiving for employees and their spouses, where we did our sales and service awards, but that was kind of a drag for the spouses,” says Steve Badman, the bank’s VP of marketing. “We had entertainment-a comedian or a magician-but it’s hard to satisfy people when it comes to that, so there were a lot of complaints. It was also very expensive and the attendance was really poor.”
There were also concerns about legal issues when it came to alcohol consumption, Badman says. But holiday spirit at United Bank hasn’t perished. In addition to hefty smoked hams, branch employees look forward to “the Santa Run,” when management piles into a van with Business Banking Officer Randy Geis, who plays a convincing Santa.
So, here we are, nearing the millennium, and gee, haven’t times changed? A recognition of the diversity that exists in the workplace has even changed the name of this event. Don’t call it the Office Christmas Party. It’s the company holiday party, thank you very much. And in some workplace environments, it’s become a year-end commemoration of success, not Santa; of profits, not the prophets.
And now, when business mixes with pleasure, we are more unsure than ever whether to bend the two-foot rule of personal space and hug a colleague.
No less burdensome are the tacit pressures to respect the personal time of personnel by scheduling seasonal soirees during the workday. Considerate companies acknowledge that these should be strictly social affairs, not settings for CEO soliloquies and service awards. Many even put a time limit on the event so employees won’t watch their watches. And employees are not only solicited for suggestions, their preferences are put into motion. No booking the Boot Scoot for a Western-theme hoe-down when the consensus wants death and mayhem at a Laser-tag arena.
The organizations featured in this article corroborate by example that the business world is turning to newfangled methods of showing appreciation for employees and clients (while simultaneously supporting the community) during the holidays. The traditional office party is becoming something we see only in dusty photo scrapbooks in forgotten filing cabinets.
To which we can all say, Hallelujah!