The majority of organisations (60%) will still provide a Christmas party for their staff this year despite the impending recession. New findings from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Developments (CIPD) Annual Reward Management Survey 2008 highlight the importance of rewarding employees during difficult times. The initial findings of the survey, which will be presented in its entirety at the CIPDs Annual Reward Conference on 3-4 February 2009, show that private services sector companies are still the keenest to embrace the Christmas festivities with the vast majority (77%) still likely to provide a Christmas party or lunch this year (a small shift from 84% in 2007). However, the voluntary and the public sectors fair less well. While the voluntary sector is more likely to reward staff with a Christmas party (51% compared with 24% in the public sector), the number of the organisations in this sector throwing Christmas parties has decreased by 12% this year. Similarly to previous years, public sector organisations are the most reticent to offer this Christmas perk with only 24% likely to provide a Christmas party or lunch this year (compared with 26% in 2007). And within the private sector the manufacturing and production industry has also shown a significant drop in Christmas partys offerings this year, with 67% of the organisations providing this type of reward compared with 77% in 2007. Charles Cotton, CIPD Reward Adviser, says: As ever, employers need to think about why they are providing a Christmas party in the first place. If it is to recognise the collective contribution of their employees, then what are the alternatives and are they more effective? If holding a Christmas party is the most effective way of achieving this, then employers should be wary about scrapping them in response to the economic downturn because the long term impact could be damaging on employee engagement and organisational performance. As reward becomes ever more individual, the Christmas party is one way of reminding staff that they are part of a common endeavour. ” When it comes to Christmas parties, it seems that the size of an organisation does matter with smaller organisations most likely to embrace Christmas festivities. The survey, in fact, shows that over 82% of firms employing up to 49 employees will provide a Christmas party or lunch this year, compared to only 37% of organisations with 5000 people and more. The survey highlights all differences between organisation sizes:

• Eighty-two percent of organisations with up to 49 staff will offer a Christmas party or lunch;
• Seventy-four percent of organisations employing between 50 and 249 employees provide a Christmas party or lunch;
• nearly 60% of organisations employing between 250 and 999 employees offer a Christmas party or lunch;
• Nearly 42% of organisations with 1000-4999 employees provide a Christmas party;
• Thirty-seven percent of organisations employing 5000 people and more are likely to throw a Christmas party or lunch this year.

The survey also highlights: Manufacturing and production companies are the most likely to provide a Christmas gift in the form of a hamper or voucher, with nearly 16% of them doing so. Nearly 11% of private sector services companies will offer a Christmas gift to their staff in the form of hamper or voucher. Public services organisations and voluntary sector companies are the least likely to offer a Christmas present. Two percent of the former are set to offer one, while about 1.5% of the latter will provide one.
Courtesy of OnRec.com