7 Whys & Ways Of Celebrations At Workplace

What is a celebration at work? We seem to have built many misconceptions about the word celebration. The celebration doesn’t always mean a large party or an outing.Small get-togethers and, cutting a cake, acknowledging team members’ efforts in front of the team all counts as a celebration.What matters is how frequently we are doing it and making it a part of our culture. As Robert Breault said, “there are exactly as many occasions in life as you choose to celebrate.

To keep the attraction towards the work, some distraction is essential. And one of the best ways to break the monotony is by celebrating often. It helps to forget the differences and creates a feeling of Oneness amongst team members.Let us first explore the seven reasons why celebration at work is increasing across the organization:

1. It Creates a Positive Environment

Celebrations bring people together. They celebrate, laugh, and have fun. This removes animosity amongst employees if any. They become friendly with their peers, juniors, and seniors. There is a feeling of Oneness. This helps them to share ideas and thoughts easily. Communication becomes easy. And a personal connection enables to perform more efficiently.

2. Gives a Sense Of Belonging

It feels great when your birthday is celebrated at work. It gives a sense of belonging. The celebration provides team members insight into recognition for accomplishments and milestones in both business and personal lives.

3. Helps in Building Happily Dissatisfied Team

Celebrations encourage enthusiasm. It is incredible how a simple act of celebration leads to happiness and hardworking work culture. It creates a perfect, happily dissatisfied team that gives in their best effort but is never satisfied with the outcome and tries to achieve more and more.

4. Change From Monotony

Celebrations at a workplace can provide a significant change from the monotony of everyday routine. It works as fresh air, bringing new energy. After the festival, the team joins in the work with more enthusiasm.

5. Opportunity To Bond

While employees are engrossed in their work, they don’t get to interact much. Celebrations give them the chance to break the ice and interact. They get to know each other better and develop a bond.

6. Recognition Of Hidden Talents

While conducting games and activities, a lot of hidden talents get recognized. While some turn out to be movie geeks, few others come out as a musician. A lot of behavioral skills like initiative or communication, which are otherwise not realized while working, might get revealed during such events.

7. Uplifts Morale

Team members’ morale will be uplifted when they are noticed through celebrations at the workplace. This way, they get motivated to perform better and work hard.

While the reasons for celebrations at the workplace are evident, let us now explore the seven ways of doing it. It is not an exhaustive list but gives us clarity to start immediately.

1. Employee Milestone

Employees achieving milestones are worth recognizing. A simple way can be to put a temple-type bell and ring it even for small achievements. It takes much hard work to achieve the more significant milestones, which deserve major cheering.

A milestone celebration lets your employee know their efforts are appreciated. It can also be through a gift, incentive, or hand-written letters.  Such celebration is a great way to boost morale, retention, recognition, and a feeling of belonging within your organization.

2. Work Anniversaries / Years Of Service

When an employee completes specific years in an organization, a mere mention of it makes a difference in the employee’s mind. Work anniversaries are like birthdays but with corporate twists. At first glance, you might think how fun that could be.  

The answer – Absolute blast! You can do a highlight reel of your employees or best memories with them. Whatever you decide to take on, it will be the best experience for your employees.  This type of work celebration reduces high turnover. Work celebrations bump up employee loyalty and remind employees how far they have come.

3. Foundation Day Celebration

Foundation day celebration/ work anniversary is a companywide event. It strengthens the reason why we all are here. You can make a small video of how that last year has been.

Highlight the most significant milestone and what you have learned from the failure.  It strengthens why we are here and what we should strive for amongst the employees.

4. Celebrate Festivals

Holi, Diwali, Eid, and New year are great festivals to celebrate at the workplace. Take a few hours from your daily work life and celebrate such festivals by being together. You can plan for a dress code or have a potluck lunch. Get all together to make a rangoli.  

This strengthens the bond and makes employees feel homely, especially those staying away from family.

5. Celebrate Birthdays

Employees’ birthdays are must-have events. During their birthday, get them a cake or write a card or some thoughtful gesture that will make their day.

At least one appreciation from each team member for the person can make his day more memorable. Such a little gesture will let them know that they are thought about. You will be surprised to know how far that goes with employees and co-workers.

6. Company Retreat

Rest and Recreation are something no one will say no to. It could be intimate and simple with leadership workshops and team-building board games. A nice outing will lead to refreshment and fill up the fresh energy in the team members. This will strengthen the teams’ values, which will eventually reflect in their work.

7. Award Ceremony

Host an office Award night by having your red carpet event. Set up decorations, ask employees to dress up, have good music and entertainment, cater delicious food, and get employees to join in the fun.  The award ceremony will develop a culture of appreciation and gratitude that reflects positively on employees’ sense of belonging to the company and leads to increased staff retention.