It's The Thought that Counts - Redux

I just recently read an article that suggested that the annual Christmas party was the one last best opportunity in the year to boost or salvage one's employee engagement scores.  At one level I couldn't help but chuckle at this perspective - as if one kick-ass party was going to somehow undo an entire year of not paying attention to a company's most valuable and portable resource.  To me it's somewhat akin to saying that I could be a horrible husband or parent all year long and somehow overcome that with a great anniversary or birthday present.

On the other hand, I could also appreciate and buy-in to the perspective of making sure that as a leader we truly show up in an authentic and sincere fashion at this time of year.  That we take this time to truly demonstrate our appreciation for our staff, our team, our co-workers and our fellow human beings.  And perhaps that from this spirit of giving we could hold ourselves in that spirit for the year to come. 

Last year, I wrote an entry focused on how we as leaders do or do not show up at this time of year, and whether we demonstrate with any authenticity our appreciation and commitment to our staff.  With some minor edits I have reprised that entry for your consideration.

So Yes, the Christmas season is upon us once again!  If you are like me that usually means the typical scramble to get those last minute gifts, prepare for family visits, or send off Christmas cards.  It is also the time of year for work-based Christmas parties and events.    In my experience these have taken on many forms from unit-based social events, to Board/senior executive formal functions, to larger team-based gatherings at a local restaurant, and even holiday-themed meals provided for free to all staff during the Christmas season.  What some may fail to realize is that these events say a lot about the organization's or the individual leader's commitment to staff and can send strong messages about the reality of employee engagement in the organization. 

I recall from painful experience a year in which budget and optics caused my organization to cancel what had been a long-standing event - the annual tradition of offering a free meal to staff in the week leading up to Christmas.  Given the nature of trying to serve hundreds of people at 3 or 4 points in the day the food provided was delivered in buffet, industrial style production - hot food dished out cafeteria-style, with cake or squares for dessert, and your choice of juice or coffee.  There certainly was cost, but not extravagance.  Staff social committees put forward their best effort to provide entertainment for these functions as well so there was music, caroling, and contests to encourage socialization and camaraderie.  What I believe staff also enjoyed was the fact that very many of their managers took turns serving out meals at the event.  This included senior executives as well.  A colleague of mine and I made a particular tradition of taking on the night shift - which if memory served was 1 or 2 in the morning.  Staff were generally impressed that we made the effort to come in at night to put in a couple of hours of work and engage in conversation with them.  And we both thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Modest cost but an investment that paid off many times over in connecting with staff.

Needless to say the cancellation was not well received by most.  It was a challenging decision to make.  Some believed that public perception as much as cost supported the decision to cancel.  If there were budget challenges for the organization how could we justify spending dollars on a staff Christmas meal?  Others believed that if competitors were making similar decisions we had no choice but to follow.  However, for most management and staff it was not a warmly received decision.  Many felt it diminished the hard work and sacrifices of all staff.  Many felt that this was the one true reward and recognition that they received in a year and now it was gone.  Others may have taken the tradition for granted and it simply became an entitlement.  Nevertheless the cost to the organization in terms of goodwill was not insignificant.  We definitely came across as Scrooge-like.

What also went by the way that year was any formal lunch time gathering of management teams.  All of my managers would have gotten together at a restaurant or some other venue to have a buffet style meal, socialize, and listen to me give greetings of the season and thanks for a year's hard work.  Other senior executives would have done similar things with their direct reports.  That was no longer on the table.  I could have chosen then to forgo any annual Christmas gathering of my team.  However, it's not that easy to just give up these types of events if you really believe in rewarding and recognizing your team.  With the support of my direct reports and my family we decided to take a different approach to celebrating Christmas - we opened up my house over two days to a potluck style celebration.  What did this mean?  Well mostly it meant parking challenges for my neighborhood and space challenges in my house with upwards of 100 people attending each day enjoying each other's company and culinary creations.  It was a house full to the brim of Christmas spirit!  Adversity turned to celebration!  What could have been a season of discontent was turned into a huge positive team-building event.  The comments that my wife and I received from my management staff were overwhelmingly positive.  Many even suggested that this home-based event become the new Christmas tradition.  The team was strengthened that day and the Christmas spirit was alive and well.

I also kept my own more intimate work-based Christmas celebration going.  For probably the last 10 or 15 years, I have invited my immediate direct reports and their spouses over to my house some time in the Christmas season.  Again all the food is home-cooked with contributions from all.  More importantly for me, I have always used the occasion to individually recognize each of my team members with a gift - paid for by myself - that I believe spoke to their individual achievements or reality in the past year.  I put hours of thought into each person's gift.  Sometimes this related to a singular event, sometimes to their particular personality or character, or perhaps some key accomplishment - personal or work-related - that was noteworthy.  In all cases, the gift giving was preceded by a mostly humorous, and always heart-felt, presentation on my part.  I believe this was warmly received by my colleagues precisely because it demonstrated that I paid attention to their efforts throughout the year and thought enough about each one of them to put in this individualized effort.  Our success was made possible by their individual and combined efforts.  It certainly would have been easier and less time-consuming to give them all a gift card to Chapter's, or give them some corporate swag, or something equally as generic.  I also could have assigned the task of getting these gifts to my support staff or similarly had them make arrangements for the party.  After all, I was a senior executive and could have pulled out the "I'm too busy or important" excuse to support the delegation of work.  But I don't see that it would have had the same meaning for any of us.  And the reward I got for the effort was the laughter, the tears and team building that came from this Christmas tradition.  I enjoyed it and got energy from the effort!

Ultimately, regardless of organizational circumstances, I believe that any leader can demonstrate an ongoing commitment to staff, to engaging their team, and building a strong culture.  It does take effort, it does take creativity, but ultimately it really is all about sincerity of commitment to others.  As the leader you set the tone for the culture you work in.  You build the culture by all of your actions, both large and small.  You build the culture by how you treat and work with your colleagues on a day-to-day basis.  You build the culture of your organization by your level of engagement and interest in your staff.  You demonstrate by the level of your effort how much your team really means to you.

There is no better time to demonstrate your commitment to your team than at Christmas. 

After all, it's the thought that counts.
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Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.