Already a member?
Welcome to Brazen Careerist!
Emily Ma is using Brazen Careerist to share ideas. Join now to become a member and start networking with Emily Ma and other professionals just like you. Learn more.
Brazen careerist
Where ambitious young professionals connect and grow
Email
Print
The Boston Globe has an article today about a man who plays Santa Claus every year. Apparently, due to the scary specter of recession (more on that here), companies have been cutting back on Christmas parties this year. And that doesn’t mean good things for the man who would be Santa Claus:
Business has been especially bad for Donald Wetherby, 57, a Montgomery, Vt., truck driver who makes about $400 each holiday season playing the big guy from the North Pole for weekend parties. So far, he only has two bookings this year, compared with eight this time last year.
“Even if it is Christmas,” Wetherby said, “Times are hard anyway, so people don’t got a lot of money.”
The Christmas party cutbacks are happening in a lot of places. The Rocky Mountain News says one in every five companies are cutting back on Christmas parties. They have to save money every where they can, they say.
This is stupid.
First of all, your company would have to be in pretty weird economic shape for the Christmas party to really make a dent in your year-end financial figures. I know these sorts of things can get pretty pricey at larger organization, but larger organizations also tend to have larger revenues. I’d be shocked — so much so that I might keel over and die — if I ever heard about an organization that spent more than a fraction of a percent on their annual bash. Fiscally speaking, it’s unlikely to make a huge difference either way.
These kinds of cuts are BS because they’re never really about the bottom line. They’re about making middle-management feel good about themselves. They’re about bean-counters who can’t ever understand why a business would “throw money away” on something as trivial as a party for its workers anyway.
They’re about people who don’t understand the connection between actually doing nice things for your employees and the increased productivity that follows.
For more timely, relevant, and engaging articles,
subscribe to Brazen Careerist.
- Why You Might Be Better Off Without a Job After College
- The Anti-Stalker’s Guide for Converting Online Contact into Real World Collaboration
- A New Kind of Business Mover and Shaker
- How To Find a Writing Partner Who Can Help You Achieve Your Goals and Make More Money
- Continuing Education: Extending Learning Beyond Your Campus Years
Comments
12.10.08
Thank you for this post!!
I hear everywhere that people are canceling their holiday party. Honestly, I don't hear about upper management cutting their salary to meet the bottom line. I don't hear about other cuts. I have heard about layoffs to lower employees, pay cuts where 'necessary', canceling an event that shows employees they are appreciated.
Our company is not cutting the party, we might cut back slightly, but there will still be a party. We still received a holiday bonus, and therefore our employees still feel appreciated and thankful that our boss kept our jobs.
If a company wants to create a new bottom line, make sure your employees feel appreciated. They will work harder for the company and have more respect for tightened budgets!
12.10.08
Some organizations spend several hundred grand on holiday parties for different office locations. Granted that may be a small percentage of their revenue but what that represents to the employee are four or five people's jobs.
You could say the same thing about the hilarious uproar from auto execs flying in private jets. Or the retreats at AIG. Or any number of things.
The point is, scaling back or eliminating a Christmas party is all about managing *employee* expectations, not kowtowing to bean counters or middle management guilt. Sure, some may want the pick up during the holiday season but if you are laying people off and you are also throwing your normal party, employees start to think "You know, instead of the party, I wish so-and-so were around to help me. Now my work load has doubled and they expect a holiday party to make up for it?"
Got Something To Say?
Got Something To Say?
Not a Member? Brazen Careerist is a career management tool for next-generation professionals. Set up a free account today to comment on this post and start sharing your ideas. Learn more.
Login to view your networks!
 |
|
 |
|
 |
