Parties strengthen office bonds, boost morale

HOLIDAY GIVING: Peter Campbell, from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island’s communications department, volunteers his time at Meeting Street in Providence, working with Georgia, a pre-K student. / COURTESY BCBSRI
HOLIDAY GIVING: Peter Campbell, from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island’s communications department, volunteers his time at Meeting Street in Providence, working with Georgia, a pre-K student. / COURTESY BCBSRI

A strengthening economy has allowed some Rhode Island business owners to let down their hair this holiday season and throw more-elaborate company parties, though others continue to seek less-conventional methods of celebration.
Stacey Liakos, managing partner at the Rhode Island-based Omnia Agency, held this year’s holiday party at Camille’s Restaurant on Federal Hill in Providence. The celebration, which was held in a private room with staff, significant others and a few clients, was more extravagant than what the 8-year-old advertising and marketing company has done in the past, especially when compared to the years immediately following the start of the Great Recession.
“Right around when the recession hit we were catering a holiday lunch at the office, buffet-style, with only a couple of selections because it was smart to keep costs down,” Liakos said. “It’s a great feeling to do it at Camille’s this year and hopefully every year will continue to get better and better.”
Holiday partying is an important facet of company life. More than half – 52 percent – of all workers interviewed in a recent survey said they would most like to celebrate the holidays at work with a company party.
The survey, conducted by the staffing agency OfficeTeam, was done anonymously nationwide, but Sarah Pontarelli, vice president of OfficeTeam in Providence, says she feels like Rhode Island employee morale is up and company parties are a contributing factor.
“I think morale is up overall because the economy is up,” Pontarelli said. “Holiday celebrations give workers time to get away from their desks and chat to others in an informal setting. We also find, from a management perspective, it’s a great time to focus on company milestones, or individual recognition, and use the holiday party as a vehicle to highlight the accomplishment.”
Omnia Agency, which employs about 15 full-time and part-time staff, does just that.
“We’re close to our staff and we think it’s nice to have a friendship with them, take some time to get to know their spouses, reflect on the past year and look forward to better things to come,” Liakos said. Robinson & Cole LLP, a law firm with offices in Providence, was slated to hold its holiday party at the Squantum Association – a private club in East Providence. The party was to begin with a cocktail party accompanied by live piano music, before moving into a private room for dinner.
Brian T. Smith, director of marketing and business development, says company gatherings are a key component within the firm, in order to maintain a strong culture of collegiality.
“I think, like most law firms, there are times when it can be a pretty high-pressure environment,” Smith said. “When you spend a lot of time under fire in the trenches doing good work, it forms a bond within the office and it’s healthy for people to socialize with each other in another venue.”
Smith said the firm had to “tighten the belt” after the recession hit, but has always allocated yearly funds for holiday parties.
“People really look forward to them, which I think is a good sign. I think people really can’t say enough about how [the firm] is a great place to work and the fact that – to my knowledge – we didn’t cut back on holiday celebrations, sort of shows how important it is [to us] that people have a good work environment,” Smith said.
One holiday party venue has seen an uptick in business celebrations. Laine McDonnell, director of sales and marketing at the Alpine Country Club in Cranston, says this season has been especially busy.
“We have both group holiday parties and individual parties for one company at a time. We have seen an increase in individual parties this year, which is a great sign,” McDonnell wrote in an email. “[The club’s] numbers have been higher than previous years, which tells me the economy has finally started coming back.”
McDonnell added that most parties are booked six months to a year ahead of time, so the club’s numbers actually reflect the previous year’s economy. “Our holiday parties have already started and are every day (except Mondays) in the month of December,” McDonnell wrote.
But not everyone wants to party.
Nearly 25 percent of participants in the OfficeTeam survey said they would prefer joining a charitable activity with colleagues rather than partying, according to the survey. Some Rhode Island businesses are following that idea.
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, which employs about 880 people, discontinued its “traditional” company party around the same time as the recession hit and turned holiday efforts toward volunteer activities and community service.
Carolyn Belisle, managing director of community relations, said she didn’t think the recession played a huge role in the company’s change in celebration methods and pointed to other factors.
“One reason was waning participation. People are super busy and while everyone likes to celebrate, it’s challenging to take time away from families for another work function,” Belisle said. “There was also an effort for inclusion and we were challenged to find the right time to do it that didn’t highlight one holiday over another.”
About 27 percent of participants identified inconvenient scheduling as a top “pet peeve” of holiday parties, according to the survey.
Belisle added that community service and volunteering was also more aligned with their ideals as a nonprofit organization. The insurance company has partnered with organizations such as Meeting Street, Children’s Friend and Crossroads Rhode Island.
For the last six years, Blue Cross senior executives have also volunteered together and hosted a holiday party and dinner for the residents of the women’s shelter at Crossroads. More than 50 women were slated to participate this year.
“That’s really how we’ve chosen to mark the holidays,” Belisle said. “I’m sure there are individual departments who might do their own little things, but in terms of the traditional renting a hall and having a party, we’ve done away with it.” •

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