It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Is your company prepared?
At the very least you should have planned your work Christmas party. Whether you’ve enjoyed a team Christmas dinner or cocktails, your staff deserve a celebration.
And the celebrations shouldn’t just end there - there are plenty of other ways that you can engage and unwind your workforce this December.
So, let’s get right into it.
We’ve put together a list of our 11 favourite ways of celebrating Christmas at work this year. Whether you’re working from home or in the office, there's something in here for everyone.
Have a Christmas Jumper Day
This one knows no borders. From remote staff to frontline colleagues and those based at HQ, encourage all who’d like to, to get their Christmas jumpers on!
You can encourage staff to wear their Christmas jumpers all month long, but Save the Children holds Christmas Jumper Day every December, so you can raise money for charity while you do it!
Christmas bake off
Why not stir up a bit of Christmas competition this year?
Have a great festive bake off and see who can whip up the best show-stopper.
Encourage everyone to get involved and set a day where all your employees can bring in their baked goods. This is a great way to wind down and enjoy some treats before Christmas. Your staff room will (hopefully) smell incredible.
For your remote and dispersed workers, let them share photos of their bakes on your social timeline and set up polls to vote for the best-looking bake!
Christmas intranet theme
Take advantage of Oak Engage's branding and seasonal themes to give your homepage that festive twist. Let it snow! Incorporate Christmas themed graphics, banners and colour schemes to create a festive atmosphere that gets everyone in the spirit. You could even customise your company logo with a Christmas-themed version.
Send out Christmas boxes
Want to make your employees feel recognised and appreciated?
Sending them a Christmas box full of goodies is a perfect way to do so. Whether your workforce is deskless, office based or remote, you can put together a care package to engage with your employees over the Christmas break.
Depending on the size of your company, you could even send personalised care packages so each employee gets something they like.
What better way to boost morale!
Some ideas include:
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Chocolates
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Books
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Personalised notebooks
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Mugs
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Coffee
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Candles
The list goes on!
Have a site Secret Santa
Having a Secret Santa is part and parcel of celebrating Christmas at work. Whether you buy a thoughtful present or a prank gift, it can lead to some laughs in the office or staff room!
Put names in a hat or use a secret santa generator and decide on a budget to spend. A general rule is £10-£15 but if you want to encourage humorous and novelty gifts, you could set a £5 limit.
Organise a date for the gift exchange and you’re ready to go! A simple and fun way to get everyone involved in the festivities.
Set up a Christmas playlist
A great way to start celebrating Christmas at work is to set up a company Christmas playlist to get in the spirit.
Allow your team to add their favourite Christmas songs. Whether you’re working from home, on the shop floor or in the office, everyone can enjoy the Christmas music while they’re working. We can’t guarantee they won’t be sick of it after a few weeks, but all the more reason to have a diverse playlist that everyone can contribute to!
Here are 10 of the most popular Christmas songs to get you started:
- All I Want for Christmas Is You (Mariah Carey)
- Last Christmas (Wham!)
- It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (Michael Bublé)
- It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Andy Williams)
- Holly Jolly Christmas (Michael Bublé)
- Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Band Aid)
- Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (Bruce Springsteen)
- Blue Christmas (Elvis Presley)
- Step Into Christmas (Elton John)
- Fairytale of New York (The Pogues, feat. Kirsty MacColl)
Have a Christmas quiz
Dedicate some time to have a team Christmas quiz.
As we all know from the pandemic, a quiz doesn’t have to be held in person, so you can get colleagues together wherever they are.
If you’re playing host – via Teams, Zoom or in person – it does take a little forward planning to put your rounds together. The beauty of Christmas quizzes is there’s almost endless material, with so many great iconic traditions to get everyone’s brains in gear – from movies, music, adverts to food and even toys.
Create a Christmas Hub
If you have a company intranet, the perfect way to get your workforce in the Christmas spirit is to create a Christmas Hub.
Share everything you love about Christmas on your Hub timeline, letting your employees interact with each other over the Christmas break.
Whatever ways you are celebrating Christmas at work, you can share all of the information on the Christmas Hub, meaning that your main timelines won’t get too clogged so that important information can still filter through. You can even create an event on the Hub to produce a countdown to the main events, whether that’s a Christmas party or a countdown to Christmas closure!
Watch a Christmas film
Why not pop on a Christmas film in the office while you’re working on Friday afternoon?
It’s a great way to get in the Christmas spirit and give your employees some time to wind down at the end of a busy week.
We’ve put together our top 5 Christmas films to give you some ideas:
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Elf (2003)
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Love Actually (2003)
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Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
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The Holiday (2006)
- Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Rate your Christmas tree
Get your employees to send in a picture of their Christmas trees and have a competition on whose is the best decorated.
This is just a fun way to get your employees engaged with each other and it gets people in the spirit of Christmas.
Host a fun end-of-year award ceremony
To end the year with a bang, host a fun end-of-year award ceremony for your employees.
This doesn't have to be work related, for example, you could have an award for “The funniest employee.” Run wild with it!
Feeling inspired?
It’s really important to engage your staff at this time of year and celebrating Christmas at work gives your people an opportunity to connect and socialise with colleagues they may not usually get the chance to. Plus, if they don’t celebrate outside of work or don’t have much going on over the festive period, it’s an excuse to just have a bit of fun while everyone’s in good spirits!
The key message is to have fun with it!
Make your internal comms sparkle for this festive season
Reach out to find out more from our team.
