Employee Holiday Events and COVID
Our company plans a big holiday party in December where we recognize staff, give gifts, and celebrate both the holiday season and our successes. Due to COVID, we will not be able to do this, but still want to engage our team. We've come up with a few ideas that we can conduct virtually - who has the best holiday wallpaper on MS Teams, virtual holiday trivia, etc. but we don't want to do an hour-long virtual "event" as many of us are "virtually burnt."
I'd like to hear how others are creatively adjusting their holiday plans for staff while adhering to COVID safety protocols.
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(These ideas were sent to me from Geri Geiselhart)
For the one HR Person looking for how socially gather for the holidays during the pandemic, I would take a lesson from the high school graduation celebrations. Here are some examples I heard about:
- Celebrate with a car parade by places where people may be in small groups, such as the company parking lot, and maybe set up different corners with different groups while some go around in their cars.
- Set up a give away “booth” in the company parking lot with cookies and cupcakes (store-bought of course) with managers attending the tables with the goodies.
- Some teens are meeting in small groups in large parking lots with tailgates facing each other in a large circle but still socially distancing to just talk.
- Some teens had a “prom” in a street circle where a few pairs were in each driveway and someone with sound was in the middle of the street circle.
- Our company is small but we are having picnic tables in the parking lot with box lunches (before it gets too cold)
I hope these ideas help and maybe start the creative thoughts going to come up with a new idea. I wish them good luck.
Geri
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Hi Yolanda! :) This season is certainly going to look and feel a bit different, but we're really trying to keep the spirit alive. We typically enjoy a holiday meal together, along with a gift exchange. Since in-person is not an option, we are going to order ready-to-bake meals from a few of our local restaurants and deliver them to our employees' homes for their families to enjoy. Additionally, we will ask all employees to drop off their gifts for the gift exchange and while delivering the meals, will deliver their gift. Together on Zoom, we will open our gifts and play games guessing who their secret santa was. We're also considering having a virtual piano bar with a live musician in our area to play Christmas tunes. Hope this helps trigger some inspiration or ideas for you.
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Thanks Steve and Dani! These are great ideas!