Fabulously Festive Horror Stories and a Little Elf & Safety
Merry Christmas everyone and hope you all have a great festive period and a Happy New Year 2023 and here is our Fabulously Festive Horror Stories and a Little Elf & Safety.
The Christmas season is finally upon us. So for a bit of celebratory cheer, and with thanks to many Twitter confessions from office Christmas party-goers around the UK, we have compiled a set of doozies that show what happens when ‘Sensible HR Guidance For An Ideal World’ is forced to make way for festive workplace shenanigans.
Professional Relationships
Professional relationships in the workplace that embody trust, respect, self-awareness, inclusion and open communication should be encouraged and facilitated wherever possible.
Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #1:
“I told pretty much the entire team that I hated them.”
Trust and Communication
Mutual trust and exceptional communication in the workplace is achievable through creating strong company values, setting clear boundaries and expectations, and encouraging effective internal communication.
Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #2:
“My colleagues tricked me into thinking it was a fancy dress party. I showed up to a black tie event dressed as a Christmas pudding.”
Team Building
Great relationships between managers and employees are just one of the keys to building and maintaining an efficient, productive and happy workplace.
Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #3:
“The queues were too long for the toilet so I went outside to wee behind a wall. Bumped into my boss doing the exact same thing.”
Training and Development
It is vital to build a skills-based approach to talent development, for unlocking employee potential and creating a more inclusive workplace.
Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #4:
“Tried to be really cool and do that ‘pulling the tablecloth from beneath the glasses’ trick. Completely failed, smashed everything. Red wine went everywhere.”
Privacy
An employee has a right to a private life, and therefore should be able to enjoy a “reasonable expectation of privacy”. Likewise, employees should be encouraged to leave their private selves at home, and to only bring their professional selves to the workplace.
Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #5:
“Proposed to my girlfriend in front of everyone. She said no.”
Social Media Policy
It is essential to have a solid social media policy, informing all employees of expectations and codes of conduct when it comes to posting online.
Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #6:
“I woke up to like a million messages and missed calls. Turns out I’d put inappropriate pictures of people (really drunk and wearing hardly anything) all over Facebook.”
Health & Safety
For any workplace party, it is advisable to appoint an appropriate person to monitor health and safety, identify dangerous situations, assess and report potential risk, and periodically check any control measures put in place.
Confession of a Festive Party-Goer #7:
“I jumped up onto my friend’s back but we fell over and she broke her arm.”
Don’t worry, everything will turn out just fine this year. Probably.
A Little Elf & Safety
What’s a bit of festive fun without careful consideration, planning, risk assessment and documentation? Here are just a few items to remember, should you be planning a visit to the workplace from the man in red this year:
- You will, of course, need to decorate your workplace appropriately for Santa’s visit. Please ensure that any overhead decorations are erected by a qualified person with ‘Working at Height’ training and certification, using an HSE-approved step-ladder, and that all fairy lights have been PAT-tested by an electrician.
- If your premises are vintage and blessed with a chimney and fireplace, it presents the ideal point of entry for your guest. Therefore, it is essential that a full Fire Risk Assessment is carried out to ensure that he will not meet with undue injury on his descent.
- Assuming Santa’s safe arrival, and before he proceeds through your office with his large sack of presents, do remember to risk-assess the situation by interviewing Santa on the extent of his manual handling training. If none has been undertaken, you may want to look into having him sign a document, waiving you of all responsibility should he injure his back while lifting on your premises.
- No doubt, your team will have set aside mince pies and countless Quality Streets for Santa to indulge in during his brief visit. But it must be borne in mind that such sweet treats can pose a choking hazard. Therefore, please ensure a trained first aider is always in situ.
Finally…
We hope you will have enjoyed this post, all in fun, of course!
All of us at Consensus HR would like to wish you a wonderful Christmas, and all the very best for 2023