4 ms·

When attendance is so important to leadership theyre willing to do anything to insist their holiday parties are somehow different than any other corporations aw

When attendance is so important to leadership theyre willing to do anything to insist their holiday parties are somehow different than any other corporations awkward, two drink ticket catered navel gazing event. 'non mandatory employee engagement' is generally how HR describes these sterile lifeless get-togethers. This inevitably gets translated into "i strongly encourage my team to attend" by management, which in turn results in every H1B employee showing up in cringing terror of being fired while every salaried non-exempt engineer and programmer brace for the inevitable "so, i didnt see you at the party last week!" from their manager. Save the time and effort. split the budget for this dumpster fire masquerading as a social event, and add it to my raise.

r00fus 9y ago
I've seen two successful approaches: 1) make it super interesting but excuse the family-types who instead take time off. 2) remove the party bit and make it an extra-curricular commitment perhaps giving-oriented like community service. Mandatory Happiness belongs in one of the circles of hell.
- dbcooper 9y ago
  Nothing like celebrating the year with some community service!
  - Yen 9y ago
    You joke, but there's some definite advantages to that strategy. From my point of view: * I'm a software engineer. I'm already highly-paid, so the marginal hedonic impact of a nice party is relatively small compared to its monetary cost. * I'm nerdy, and prefer quiet, small, get-togethers centered around an activity, compared to large, loud, alcohol-fueled parties. * Holiday parties are often in the evening, requiring me to schedule time for a work activity in typical non-work time. Community Service is often most reasonably performed in the day, making it an alternative activity during the workday. * As a highly-paid engineer, I'm aware of differences in luck and circumstance that led to my current good fortune - giving back to the community has a relatively notable hedonic impact. * As a software engineer, most of my work is non-tangible and abstract - I basically talk to a non-person, all day. Many types of community service involve physical labor, repairing or constructing a physical thing/place. This taps in to some core desire of humans, and thus also has notable hedonic impact. * Community Service is good PR, for both the company and employee. Holiday parties risk negative PR, either for drunken scandals, visions of gilded-age excess, or both. * The money that _could_ be spent on alcohol, catering, venue, DJs, and apparently modeling talent, I'd rather see spent on more direct benefits for employees - snacks, educational materials/career development, or just plain raises. So, yeah, I would definitely consider the perks of working for a company that advertised that it did _not_ host large holiday parties, spent the budget elsewhere, and organized community service events.
workthrowaway27 9y ago
I always heard no one ever gets promoted at the holiday party, but plenty of people get fired. So I show up early, have two drinks, say hi, and leave before doing anything regrettable.
- mywittyname 9y ago
  I even skip the drinks.
hkmurakami 9y ago
Next up: models at your weekend company potluck!
- ringaroundthetx 9y ago
  Yes please Models are loads of fun
UMadBreaux 9y ago
My previous employer had the best Christmas parties I have ever seen. We rented out a restaurant, open bar, and it was fun as hell. We worked our asses off, generally 50+ hours a week, and everyone got a chance to blow off steam together. I got a chance to really know executive management I would have been way too intimidated to ever approach. Today I work for a different company, and we had one of these events you are talking about. I actually had just as much fun, if not more fun, than the previous lavish parties I was used to. I feel like I have a much more personable relationship to at least a half-hour other people I normally don't interact with on a day-to-day basis. It's what you make of it. If not showing up for you is working, rock on man. If enjoy an opportunity to get to know everyone I work with and find out what we have in common.

r00fus 9y ago

I've seen two successful approaches: 1) make it super interesting but excuse the family-types who instead take time off. 2) remove the party bit and make it an extra-curricular commitment perhaps giving-oriented like community service. Mandatory Happiness belongs in one of the circles of hell.

dbcooper 9y ago
Nothing like celebrating the year with some community service!
- Yen 9y ago
  You joke, but there's some definite advantages to that strategy. From my point of view: * I'm a software engineer. I'm already highly-paid, so the marginal hedonic impact of a nice party is relatively small compared to its monetary cost. * I'm nerdy, and prefer quiet, small, get-togethers centered around an activity, compared to large, loud, alcohol-fueled parties. * Holiday parties are often in the evening, requiring me to schedule time for a work activity in typical non-work time. Community Service is often most reasonably performed in the day, making it an alternative activity during the workday. * As a highly-paid engineer, I'm aware of differences in luck and circumstance that led to my current good fortune - giving back to the community has a relatively notable hedonic impact. * As a software engineer, most of my work is non-tangible and abstract - I basically talk to a non-person, all day. Many types of community service involve physical labor, repairing or constructing a physical thing/place. This taps in to some core desire of humans, and thus also has notable hedonic impact. * Community Service is good PR, for both the company and employee. Holiday parties risk negative PR, either for drunken scandals, visions of gilded-age excess, or both. * The money that _could_ be spent on alcohol, catering, venue, DJs, and apparently modeling talent, I'd rather see spent on more direct benefits for employees - snacks, educational materials/career development, or just plain raises. So, yeah, I would definitely consider the perks of working for a company that advertised that it did _not_ host large holiday parties, spent the budget elsewhere, and organized community service events.

workthrowaway27 9y ago

I always heard no one ever gets promoted at the holiday party, but plenty of people get fired. So I show up early, have two drinks, say hi, and leave before doing anything regrettable.

mywittyname 9y ago
I even skip the drinks.

hkmurakami 9y ago

Next up: models at your weekend company potluck!

ringaroundthetx 9y ago
Yes please Models are loads of fun

UMadBreaux 9y ago

My previous employer had the best Christmas parties I have ever seen. We rented out a restaurant, open bar, and it was fun as hell. We worked our asses off, generally 50+ hours a week, and everyone got a chance to blow off steam together. I got a chance to really know executive management I would have been way too intimidated to ever approach. Today I work for a different company, and we had one of these events you are talking about. I actually had just as much fun, if not more fun, than the previous lavish parties I was used to. I feel like I have a much more personable relationship to at least a half-hour other people I normally don't interact with on a day-to-day basis. It's what you make of it. If not showing up for you is working, rock on man. If enjoy an opportunity to get to know everyone I work with and find out what we have in common.