Christmas at the office, a useful ritual despite the grumpy people

The end of year celebrations are an obligatory ritual in many companies, a factor of cohesion which can also be experienced as a bad time to go through. “At home, it’s light. We put up Christmas trees, but that’s all,” Charles, manager of a Parisian SME in the mobility sector, told AFP. “Doing more feels like a hassle,” he says, arguing in particular about the personal side of Christmas and the diversity of teams which can create “discomfort”.

According to a survey carried out by Qapa, a recruitment platform, in 2022, 62% of those questioned say they are in the habit of celebrating Christmas at work.

On the agenda for these end-of-year celebrations: those surveyed cite putting up decorations first (66%), followed by the exchange of gifts or “secret Santa” (38%) and the potluck (23%). ). Some companies also play the ugly sweater day card, the third Friday in December, or December 20 this year.

But many turn their noses up when this moment approaches: 59% deeming this type of corporate event “very hypocritical” and 46% seeing it as “a bad time to spend”. These little festive moments are therefore appreciated in different ways.

Emma, ​​who works in an environmental start-up, is expecting a “nice” moment. Her company is planning a tea party with an exchange of sustainable gifts: she chose organic chocolate made in a workshop that employs people in integration and with disabilities.

An executive in a transport company, Anne evokes both “often unifying” episodes, but also “embarrassing moments”. On the unifying side, she cites Christmas decoration competitions in the open space or tree thefts between departments. On the complicated side, she mentions for example the case where these moments coincide with raises/bonuses with people who “lose their tempers” claiming that they did not have enough to give gifts.

The fact remains that Camy Puech, founder of the Qualisocial firm, specializing in mental health at work, praises these moments by arguing that “the collective is the lever of success”. “There are few natural opportunities to put the collective at the heart of the event,” he adds, emphasizing that Christmas, “free from religious logic,” is one of them. “We have to go all out,” he says, emphasizing that we must “avoid imposing” and propose different formulas so that everyone can find their way.

And he added that we should not listen to “the 10% who complain”, because like family celebrations, “you always have a grumpy person in the family. That doesn’t mean we don’t have Christmas dinner!” Same rejection of the question of cost “in relation to the message sent”. But, says an executive in a large public group, “we are canceling a lot of events, it’s a crisis!” At a time when everyone has to make an effort, “headquarters cannot spend money on drinks,” he says.

The HR director of the Setec engineering group, Biljana Kostic, also confirms the importance of these moments. But the group, which employs some 3,200 people in France, “rather encourages friendly moments between colleagues” rather than a big gathering “with a whole bunch of people invited, but where ultimately no one sees anyone” or speaks to each other.

François Hubert, lawyer at the Voltaire law firm, recalls that “nothing is said in the law” about these festive moments, but that employers must nevertheless have “increased vigilance” to ensure that the health and safety of employees is preserved. , with “supervised and moderate” use of alcohol.

He also emphasizes that “we cannot force” an employee to participate either. And to cite a judgment rendered on November 9, 2022 by the Court of Cassation which ruled that the employee of a company could not be dismissed for refusing to adhere to the “fun & pro” values ​​of his company.