Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
The recession is no excuse to cancel the workplace Christmas party, new research shows.
A survey of 1,337 managers by the Chartered Management Institute reveals that 65% of them believe Christmas parties are important in helping to improve employee engagement, while 66% think the office Christmas party is vital to recognise the hard work of staff throughout the year. Seventy-one per cent also believe that end-of-year celebrations should continue in spite of the recession.
However, the managers also recognise the need for responsible reward and celebration. Asked about public perceptions, 58% agreed that an expensive party could damage their organisation’s reputation, and half of managers believe that a team lunch is better than an organisation-wide party.
Forty-one per cent of those surveyed indicated that they are happy for time to be taken for a Christmas party but will make no financial contribution, while 34% have agreed to pay up to £40 per head.
CMI chief executive Ruth Spellman said the research showed “that end-of-year festivities are clearly still of great importance to the UK workforce… 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”.
