Corporate celebrations are often limited to a single end of year Christmas party, but these events have a number of advantages and could be even more beneficial to your company if they take place throughout the year. Regular events throughout the year remind staff that you appreciate them and can act as a great motivational tool. By only hosting parties in the festive period, many companies are unknowingly losing out on a number of benefits that can be gained from events such as this.

Departmental Integration

The opportunity to mingle in a less formal setting helps to integrate employees regardless of their position in the company. Not only will a party offer you the chance to learn more about your employees’ personality traits, quirks and talents, they will also be learning these things about each other. This helps to build friendship, camaraderie and trust and can also help employees to better understand each other’s role and responsibility within the company.

Team-Building

Corporate parties bring staff together for a number of different reasons, whether it’s the celebration after the completion of a project or a summer BBQ all of these events are team-building opportunities. The celebration of events such as these helps to bond teams together. Celebrating the achievements of a project will give the staff involved the chance to celebrate the project’s success together. These parties often have a more relaxed atmosphere which can help employees get to know each other better.  A personal connection between employees will often help them to work better together in the future.

Networking

Communication is at the core of business and corporate parties provide ample networking opportunities. Better communication between employees helps to streamline processes as employees know exactly who to ask for help and advice. The improved teamwork as a result of better communication can improve productivity and, therefore, save your company money. 

Corporate parties are great opportunities to network with current and potential clients in an informal atmosphere. Informal networking can provide many benefits for your business, namely by reducing the costs of searching for and co-ordinating new clients.

Motivation

There’s nothing worse than a dull, strained and stressful working environment. Corporate parties offer the chance to boost team motivation, which will leave you with healthy, more motivated employees. A corporate party could be a great way to shake off the January blues. Unlike personal breaks, corporate parties are spent with colleagues and clients – improving their personal and business relationships.

Motivated employees are engaged employees. This can provide many benefits to your company such as higher productivity. The 2011 MacLeod Report states that companies with higher levels of employee engagement have better financial performance and less sick days.

Reflection

Parties at different times of the year mean you get the chance to reflect on the current state of the business. Whilst it’s nice to celebrate end of year success, if your business is not doing so well a corporate party could be a good opportunity to gather feedback about how to improve.

Giving employees the chance to reflect at events such as these they have the chance to recognise what they have done well and what they have not done so well. People often only remember what went wrong, and not the things that they got right. Self-reflection can help to build confidence in your employees and eliminate problems before they escalate further.

Loyalty

Taking the time to organize corporate parties shows your employees that you value and appreciate their work. Showing your employees that you appreciate them creates a sense of belonging and loyalty to the workplace.  Loyalty to your business will help to reduce staff turnover, therefore saving money which would be spent on recruitment and training.

Reduced Stress Levels

No matter what the occasion for the party, a chance to relax in the business environment will reduce stress.  Stress is thought to be the largest health-related productivity cost at work, and a 2009 study by the American Psychological Association found that 51% of employees felt they were less productive at work as a result of stress. Although it may not be a long-term solution corporate parties can help to reduce the perception of work as a stressful environment.

Return on Investment

Corporate parties have been proven to offer a good return on investment, and the costs of entertaining employees far outweigh the costs of loyalty, networking and motivation. The average salary in a UK company is £26,000, and with a budget of £150 per head per year it’s just over 5% of their annual salary. The bottom line is ultimately what drives all business decisions, and the benefits provided by corporate parties’ shows that they are not an activity which completely lacks return on investment.

Tax Benefits

Remember, a corporate party does not have to be expensive. If money is tight try bringing the party to the office by setting up a karaoke machine or mobile bar.

If you own or manage a limited company you may be able to record the costs of corporate parties as company expenses. As a result, it will be excluded from your annual profit which will reduce the amount of corporation tax you have to pay at the end of the tax year.  There are rules for this so check with HMRC first.

Recognition

Throwing parties throughout the year (and not just in the festive period) will give your employees real recognition for their accomplishments and milestones. Recognition motivates your employees by showing them that you appreciate the work that they do for you. Seeing other people being appreciated for their work personally encourages employees to continue working hard. Throwing parties for personal events such as birthdays and weddings will display personal interest in your staff and can motivate them further.

A Christmas party and summer BBQ are just two of the types of corporate party you can choose to host throughout the year. Depending on your budget, you may decide to throw your party at a Banquet Hall in London, or just at a rented room somewhere locally. No matter how many parties you decide to host it’s clear that they provide tangible benefits for months to follow.