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12/13/12 10:27 AM Holiday 2012: Five Signs You're Working For The Grinch - Forbes Page 1 of 9 file:///Users/ledalee/Desktop/Holiday%202012:%20Five%20Signs%20You're%20Working%20For%20The%20Grinch%20-%20Forbes.webarchive SUBSCRIBE NOW and SAVE 87% Help | Connect | Sign up | Log in FORBESWOMAN | 12/05/2012 @ 10:49AM 1,686 views Holiday 2012: Five Signs You're Working For The Grinch When the invitation first showed up in your inbox you thought it was a mistake. “The annual [Your Company Here] holiday party will be held next Monday evening in the third floor conference room at five pm, ending promptly at seven. Soda and sandwiches will be served.” Bah-humbug, it’s official: You’re working for a Grinch. And he’s trying to steal Christmas. Follow (1,253) Meghan Casserly, Forbes Staff I cover the juggle of work, life and play for smart, ambitious women. Subscribe 259k Comment now Follow Comments Most Most Popular Popular America's Dirtiest Cities Lists Lists Most Powerful People Video Video Newly-Powerful Peo
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12/13/12 10:27 AMHoliday 2012: Five Signs You're Working For The Grinch - Forbes
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FORBESWOMAN | 12/05/2012 @ 10:49AM | 1,686 views
Holiday 2012: Five Signs You'reWorking For The Grinch
When the invitation first showed upin your inbox you thought it was amistake. “The annual [Your CompanyHere] holiday party will be held nextMonday evening in the third floorconference room at five pm, endingpromptly at seven. Soda andsandwiches will be served.”
Bah-humbug, it’s official: You’reworking for a Grinch. And he’s trying to steal Christmas.
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Meghan Casserly, Forbes StaffI cover the juggle of work, life and play for smart, ambitious women.
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12/13/12 10:27 AMHoliday 2012: Five Signs You're Working For The Grinch - Forbes
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As it turns out, for more and more employees, free sandwiches are as festiveas it gets: according to a new survey from Seamless and BizBash, just 47% ofemployers will be holding company-wide bashes this year. And those that willstill haven’t scaled up to pre-recession levels of revelry. Booze budgets havebeen slashed and many events have been moved to weeknights—or worse–daylight hours.
But it isn’t just putting the kibosh on the annual holiday party that candamper on the holiday season at work. According to experts, there are ahandful of critical mistakes that employers make during the holidays that canhave lingering effects on employee engagement well into the New Year.
“People get very attached to workplace holiday traditions,” says Bruce Clarke,CEO of HR management firm CAI. “Losing or de-emphasizing these things—no matter how trivial they may seem—can be a big mistake.” From hostinglackluster events to skipping charitable giving to radio silence on the questionof bonuses, these missed opportunities can make Scrooges out of even themost well-meaning employers.
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Scrooge Cities: Cities Where People Work Hardest Through The Holidays
AFP/Getty Images
Is Your City A Scrooge?Seamless and BizBash teamed up this year to measure the cities where it's business asusual through the holiday season. How? By looking at corporate food orders betweenDecember 24th and January 1 to see who was at their desks--and ordering on thecompany dime. These are the six cities who work the hardest through the holidays. Bahhumbug.
Scrooge Cities: Cities Where People Work Hardest Through The Holidays
12/13/12 10:27 AMHoliday 2012: Five Signs You're Working For The Grinch - Forbes
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Bah Humbug No. 1: Oh Bonus Check, No Bonus Check
For millions of employees, the days of the holiday bonus have come and gone(it’s been since 2008, people) but many still wait with baited breath at the endof December thinking this year—surely this year—their paychecks will beextra padded for the holidays. Others are experiencing the sting for the firsttime in 2012. But the experts agree that holding back on bonuses isn’t actuallythe mistake—not being open about it is.
“Transparency is so important,” says AliciaHuppman, the program manager for humanresource management at Philadelphia’s PeirceCollege. “If there will be no bonus it’s critical toaddress why.” Employees don’t like to be left in thedark, she says, which can foster resentment in theranks, particularly if bonus checks have been a long-standing tradition. Explaining the decision helpsemployees understand it in the greater context ofjob losses, potential increases in benefit costs orother financial concerns.
Bah Humbug No. 2: Have Yourself A VeryLittle Christmas (Party)
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Is Your City A Scrooge?Seamless and BizBash teamed up this year to measure the cities where it's business asusual through the holiday season. How? By looking at corporate food orders betweenDecember 24th and January 1 to see who was at their desks--and ordering on thecompany dime. These are the six cities who work the hardest through the holidays. Bahhumbug.
12/13/12 10:27 AMHoliday 2012: Five Signs You're Working For The Grinch - Forbes
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jobs,” says Clarke. They don’t like what they do eachday and they’re not happy about showing up. “Butthey almost always like the people they work with.”Mucking up the annual holiday party could bemucking up the only aspect of work employeesactually relish—and as a proponent of employeeengagement to promote productivity, Clarke warnsthat is one major no-no.
Instead, Clarke advocates moderation at events—both in the “vibe” of the party, which should aim forfestive and casual without losing its corporate edgeand in the policy for alcohol consumption. “For somany people alcohol is a natural element ofcelebration,” he notes, so a teetolling party cancome as an unpleasant surprise to employeeslooking to let loose. His answer? Limit the numberof drinks for each employee with drink tickets.
Angie Strunk, Vice President of HR solutions firmSheakley agrees, and provides an additional piece of(quite genius) advice for employers hoping to avoidthe Scrooge trap of a dry party—without openingthemselves up to the liabilities that accompany abooze-soaked evening. “Allow employees to invitetheir spouse,” she says. The benefits are two-fold:employees see the move as generous and thepresence of significant others tends to put everyoneon their best behavior.
Bah Humbug No. 3: Keep Your iPhone WithYou, All Through The (New) Year
When employers expect their employees to be fullycommitted through the holidays, they’re asking fora distracted, disgruntled workforce. “Employees arenaturally going to be more stressed and distractedduring this time of year,” says Strunk, who notesthat her own firm offers time off for Black Fridayand even encouraged employees to take advantageof Cyber Monday sales. “People are in the holidaymindset whether you like it or not,” she says. “If youcan leverage that opportunity for some good will,it’s a smart move.”
To that end (if business allows) Strunk says extra days off, operating on aflexible schedule or allowing telecommuting particularly during the last weekof the year, can be a true gift to employees—especially if they won’t bereceiving a bonus in 2012. “The gift of flexibility through the holidays is onethat an employer can give that’s extremely low-cost but pays big dividends in
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employee satisfaction,” Huppman agrees.
Bah Humbug No. 4: All I Want For Christmas Is A Review
“One thing that is seriously lacking in the workplace is positive feedback,”Huppman says, and sending employees into the New Year frustrated andunaware of their value to the company is a serious misstep. Instead, sheadvises using the holidays as an opportunity for an informal end-of-yearreview. Too many employers only evaluate an employee’s performance whenraise increases are being negotiated, she says—the holidays give an idealopportunity to separate feedback from financial discussions, which alleviatesstress on both sides of the desk.
Holding a review is an opportunity to look back—to celebrate the work eachemployee has done—and to look forward by laying out corporate goals and therole each employee will play in that success. But overlooking this criticalcomponent of management can be a major misstep. “A valued employee is aproductive employee,” says Huppman. “People want to know their role andtheir value within the company.”
Bah Humbug No. 5: (No) Joy to The World
In Dickens’ The Christmas Carol, the curmudgeonly Ebenezer is quick to denyalms to the poor. If your company doesn’t promote charitable giving duringthe holiday, it just might be a Scrooge. “Giving to charities and organizingfood or toy drives helps to get the entire company into the holiday spirit,” saysStrunk.
“These traditions encourage camaraderie in a staff at a very low cost,” saysHuppman, and they prove that even when money is tight for a company, itcan spread goodwill by giving to others who are worse off. “You may not begetting your bonus,” she says, “But a volunteer effort will remind you that youhave it pretty good.”
Readers: Is your company a holiday Scrooge? What are youdoing to celebrate the season? And, perhaps most importantly,what is your stance on drink tickets at the office party??
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