Clarissa Windham-Bradstock is CEO/Chief People Officer of Any Lab Test Now, a leading national retail healthcare and lab testing franchise.
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The holidays are nearly here. While the season is always an exciting time, it can also be stressful. This is true under even the best of circumstances. As we enter a holiday season that looks much different this year, business leaders are wondering how the pandemic will impact holiday celebrations in both their personal and professional lives.
The idea of the usual holiday celebration is out the window, but it’s still important that companies maintain morale and promote togetherness, even if employees continue to be apart. As someone who deals with human resources every day, I understand the importance of maintaining a sense of normalcy and being together in difficult times.
After giving it careful thought, here are a few ideas to consider for a safer holiday celebration around the office. Through ingenuity and a little help from technology, we can continue to spread good cheer without spreading the virus.
1. A Socially Distanced Day Of Community Service
The holidays are a wonderful time for companies to connect with their communities. While this may seem tricky in the time of Covid-19, our communities have never needed our help more. Community service and charitable initiatives are a wonderful way for co-workers to connect around a common goal. Charitable initiatives give employees something to feel proud of because they are providing a much-needed helping hand to their community. This creates a ripple effect that not only improves employee morale but workplace culture as well.
Food drives and fundraisers remain incredibly effective ways of giving back, but how do you safely hold one at your company? People have been getting creative through virtual volunteering since the start of the pandemic, and it could pay to take a page out of their books.
For food drives, you could create a curbside drop-off where employees can leave donations in a safe and contactless atmosphere. For your fundraiser, you should seriously consider taking your platform online, if you haven’t already. With so many online payment apps, donating to your community fundraiser is only a tap away. At a time when people want to help but aren’t sure how, taking the initiative can be a blessing to your community in more ways than one.
2. Hold Your Holiday Gift Exchange By Mail
The annual holiday gift exchange, whether it be a secret Santa or a white elephant, comes with a few extra caveats this year. You could try to do a socially distanced white elephant exchange at the office itself. Just set out chairs six feet apart and have staff select gifts from a central table instead of passing them by hand. However, this can quickly get complicated, and the logistics become difficult depending on how many employees you have and the size of your office. What’s more, it could inadvertently leave people still working remotely out in the cold.
One way around this is by holding your gift exchange through the mail rather than in person. With so much of our communication taking place online, receiving a letter or a postcard is a tiny ray of joy that stands out from bills, junk mail and political ads. Letter-writing and pen pals have surged in popularity during Covid-19, and you can expect holiday cards to be greeted with extra enthusiasm this year.
Give employees the mailing address for their partners in the company gift exchange, and have them send gifts through the mail. This helps remote workers continue to feel included while giving everyone something they can look forward to. You may also want to consider offering to reimburse employees for shipping costs to make things even easier.
3. Have A Virtual Holiday Party
My last recommendation is probably one of the first things you thought of when you started reading this article: holding the holiday party on Zoom. Whether you use Zoom or another videoconferencing service, technology has been crucial in keeping us connected during Covid-19. This is going to be especially true during the holidays. Zoom and other videoconference platforms are helping companies and families alike bridge the distance when travel isn’t recommended or possible. But your virtual holiday party doesn’t need to be just another video call.
Try to create your own custom backgrounds and share them with employees to add a little pizzazz to the party. Use Zoom for toasts and speeches, and even think about incorporating interactive games like office trivia with prizes such as digital gift cards for winners.
Remember It’s The Connection That Matters, Not The Distance
While these recommendations won’t replace the spirit and camaraderie of in-person holiday festivities, they’re still valuable and viable solutions to meet people halfway. By creating a plan for safer and socially distanced holiday festivities, you aren’t only protecting your employees, but your company as well.
At the end of the day, the holidays are really about showing people that you care. And what better way to show you care than by taking the safety of your employees seriously?
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