Happy Holidays from Resound! We hope your celebrations are joyful and delicious.
It’s interesting how different companies approach the holidays. Some have decked the entire office with holly (fa la la la la), put Christmas candy in little dishes, hung all the Christmas cards in front of the reception desk, and planned festive holiday blowout.
Unfortunately, Christmas is also within two weeks of the new year. With all those 2015 roll outs, EOY Financials, and project wraps, you might be tempted to just skip any semblance of holiday cheer. But here are some reasons why you shouldn’t Scrooge this year.
Building Trust
Have you ever heard the phrase, “The family that plays together stays together?” This goes for offices too, and it goes way beyond official holidays. While parties are not the end-all-be-all tool in developing office relationships, they do provide an atmosphere that promotes connection. Connections turn into friendships, and friendships foster trust.
We’re not talking about one company retreat where employees do “trust falls” and obstacle courses blindfolded. We all have personal relationships, and we sure as hockey didn’t build them by doing trust falls. How did we build them? By spending time. By getting to know each other. By observing each other in different settings and noting reactions. By collaborating on small things first, then moving to big things; that’s how trust is built. We all have family and friends. We already have what it takes to build relationships. All we have to do is provide each other the time and opportunity to do so.
When a team of employees have built friendships, they are much more likely to work well together, sustain a happy work environment, and increase productivity.
Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer of the New York Times note, “When people don’t care about their jobs or their employers, they don’t show up consistently, they produce less, or their work quality suffers.” They add, “Working adults spend more of their waking hours at work than anywhere else. Work should ennoble, not kill, the human spirit. Promoting workers’ well-being isn’t just ethical; it makes economic sense.”
The Bottom Line
Part of the reason this makes economic sense is because happy employees equal happy customers. Think about it; if your employees are stoked to be at work, their enthusiasm will impact your customers and clients naturally. You can’t fake a genuinely good mood. The world needs more happy places, and consumers gravitate towards places that make them feel good. In her book, Make More Money By Making Your Employees Happy, Dr. Noelle Nelson cites a study conducted by The Jackson Organization, saying, “companies that effectively appreciate employee value enjoy a return on equity & assets more than triple that experienced by firms that don’t. When looking at Fortune’s ’100 Best Companies to Work For,’ stock prices rose an average of 14% per year from 1998-2005, compared to 6% for the overall market.”
Resound values relationships. Whether it’s company lunches, awesome holiday parties, Wii hockey tournaments to chill after a long day, or the occasional “park day,” we believe in—and invest in—our celebrations!
Invest in a healthy culture up front. The return will blow your stockings off.
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