WORKPLACE
f you were employed by Google in 2006 , you were invited to a holiday party called Googlympus , held on San Francisco ’ s Pier 48 . The gala featured a live orchestra , disco room , an epic theme that honored the Greek gods , tarot card readers , mermaids , open bars — and 10,000 attendees .
Or if you worked in Bloomberg ’ s London office in 2000 , your holiday party had a seven deadly sins theme , with a casino , cabaret and “ lust room ” with a 25-foot purple satin bed . For most of the post-World War II 20th century , your holiday party would have involved booze , dancing , more booze and flirtatious behavior that would have left many coworkers redfaced ( and hungover ) the next morning .
All of that has changed . “ This is a big HR topic , for sure ,” says Preet Kuar , an HR expert and CEO of Sacramento-based Pacific Staffing . In recent years , before the pandemic , says Kuar , most companies scaled back their parties for a gamut of reasons — religious conflicts , troubles with alcohol and heightened awareness of inappropriate behavior in the # MeToo era .
As for holiday parties in the pandemic era ? In one of the great understatements of 2020 , Kuar predicts that “ this year is going to be tricky .”
From Merry Christmas to a silent night
For many companies , the holiday party used to be the Christmas party . “ We stopped saying Merry Christmas in the ’ 80s , and we ’ re long past that ,” says Kuar , who adds that merely using the word “ holiday ” is not enough to ensure inclusivity . The list of holidays in December includes Bodhi Day , Posadas Navidenas ( celebrated in Hispanic and Latin American communities ), Yule ( Wicca ), Kwanzaa ( African American cultural celebration ), Zarathosht Diso ( Zoroastrianism ), Hanukkah ( Judaism ), Christmas ( Christianity ) and , of course , Festivus ( secular ). Kuar says that to avoid this potential minefield of cultural insensitivity , some companies have pushed the parties to January or February with more innocuous themes , like Winter Wonderland .
Or they ’ ve scrapped them altogether . “ After a while , companies have just
“ After a while , companies have just said , ‘ In order to appreciate everyone , we will no longer host any of these types of events ,’ right , wrong or indifferent , just to take that neutral path of inclusiveness .”
JULIE WORLEY Senior consultant , HR Done Right
said , ‘ In order to appreciate everyone , we will no longer host any of these types of events ,’ right , wrong or indifferent , just to take that neutral path of inclusiveness ,” says Julie Worley , a senior consultant at Sacramento-based HR Done Right . She adds that even Halloween can be problematic , so , “ You don ’ t see too many businesses say , ‘ Let ’ s dress up for the holiday !’”
Religion is only one of the many issues . “ Companies have stopped saying ‘ Your spouse is invited ,’” says Susan Heathfield , a management consultant and HR expert for The Balance Careers , a website that offers career advice . Heathfield says the word spouse has largely been expunged from the corporate vocabulary . “ There are all sorts of family relationships these days ,” says Heathfield . “ You have people in partnerships , you have gay relationships where the people aren ’ t necessarily married .” Even the food can be fraught . In the past , maybe a company would serve a juicy Christmas ham and expect all to enjoy . “ Companies have become extremely careful to always have a vegan or vegetarian option ,” says Heathfield . “ The whole arena of awareness is just 100 percent more than it would have been years ago .”
Then there ’ s a more mundane challenge : scheduling . December is a crowded month , stuffed with social obligations , and there are only three weekends from which to choose . “ My company stopped having holiday parties , because it became too difficult to get all the employees and partners together in the same evening ,” says Heathfield . So they turned their holiday party into a February birthday bash , to celebrate the month the company was founded . Heathfield says not only did this untie the knotty scheduling conflicts , but it ’ s cheaper to book events in February .
Those boozy holiday parties of yore could also lead to drinking-and-driving accidents , injuries , and problematic behavior such as sexual harassment . At one of Kuar ’ s client ’ s parties , an employee drank too much , hit his head and was sent to the hospital . “ The company was liable ,” says Kuar . Another client used to throw a lavish annual party at a hotel with cocktail hour , dinner , danc-
56 comstocksmag . com | November 2020