Firms Lift Morale Without Holiday Parties

Dec. 16 -- Longer Lunches, a Seattle-based networking group for free-lancers and consultants from different industries, held a "No-Company Company Holiday Party" last week for its 100 members who didn't have a company party of their own to attend.

Almost 300 people showed up.

A $10 cover charge bought champagne for the first 150 guests, hors d'oeuvres, wine tasting, live music and $5 drink specials for a club full of free-lancers who didn't have a corporate holiday function to attend this year. But people whose companies weren't holding parties also came along.

Longer Lunches founder Liz Kiley, who was surprised by the robust turnout, says she decided to throw the event after discovering that many of the clients from her marketing business weren't celebrating the holidays.

"I must have hit 100 companies and they all said we're not doing a party this year," says Kiley. "It's kind of sad, what's going on."

With the recession prompting many firms to forgo the traditional holiday party this year, many employers and workers are seeking alternatives to boost employee morale. Some 64 percent of companies surveyed by Lincolnshire, Ill.-based human resources consulting firm Hewitt Associates said they were holding holiday parties this year, down from 67 percent last year, when the Sept. 11 attacks put many company festivities on hold.

"Many companies are trying to seek out alternatives to the party that became particularly flamboyant in the late '90s bubble years," says John Challenger, chief executive officer of Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Welcome Relief or Buzz Kill?

Though some workers might view a break from forced socializing with their co-workers and boss as a welcome reprieve during the hectic holiday season, Challenger says acknowledging employees' contributions in some way at this time of the year is still important for employee morale.

"Something needs to be put in its place," he says. "Recognition is important. I don't think the lavishness is necessary, but the event, doing something on the year-end … taking stock in where you've been, that isn't going to disappear."