With the past few years of not only Christmas Parties but all company events being “cancelled” or switched to online, December 2022 is going to be “the time” for companies to bring their employees together. Did you know happy workers are 13% more productive? Research by Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, in collaboration with British multinational telecoms firm BT, found a conclusive link between happiness and productivity! Even if a company only cares about their bottom line that is surely enough to motivate leaders to look after their staff. With Oxford University facts and figures aside, there has been a surge in businesses and those running them wanting to support their staff from a multitude of perspectives, with happiness and wellbeing a huge trend over the last few years. Working with businesses of all sizes and hearing very similar stories all the time, we’ve created a list of the top reasons why people should be bringing their teams together this Autumn and Wintertime. Encouraging team bonding and feeling part of something. There’s no doubt about it, hosting an amazing event for your team or company will enhance team morale and help create a sense of unity. Even now, whether it’s remote working or geographical location, there are businesses with staff who have never met face to face. Whilst technology has helped people bond from a distance, many believe stronger relationships can only be formed in a physical environment, whether body language or a clink of a glass play a part, or just people’s ability to relax in conversation. This also strongly ties into staff wellbeing, supporting personal relationships as well as helping combat loneliness and isolation. I’m sure many people can recall times they met people at events that they “clicked” with and formed relationships with beyond. Celebrate successes and hard work. Rewarding staff and letting them know you’re proud of their achievements can be a hugely powerful and motivating tool. Whether this is individual awards for outstanding members of the team, or just a “thank you” party to reward staff. Rewarding staff leads to higher employee engagement, can support staff retention and also creates a more rounded working environment. Demonstrations of this (for example social posts or online articles) can also help with future recruitment, many people want to work for companies doing “more”. Break the Ice. We’re not talking awkward circles and introducing ourselves, that would be painful, but we always recommend points of interest, activities or entertainment going on at events, especially if the group aren’t familiar with each other in person. This not only gives guests something to begin talking about at the event but also if it’s something completely unique, something they will talk about after the event too! If the above isn’t enough to convince you that your business should be organising events for the team in 2022, then try speaking with the team to gain their feedback on what they would like to do, or if they’d like to be together, you may just be surprised. PS Did you also know that these are tax exempt? Speak to your accountant to find out more about the specifics, but you can spend up to £150 per person. For help from organising your whole Christmas event, conference, meeting, team building activities, exhibition to just some quirky activities, speak to the Huxley team. w: www.huxleyevents.com e: [email protected] t: 01953 558104 Image credit – Martin James Photography