Mask or No Mask
Relax. This is not about the current debate over wearing masks. It’s about Halloween, a holiday where masks come out. I remember moving to Los Angeles from Chicago to discover that pretty much everyone dressed up on Halloween. Bank tellers and grocery checkout clerks didn’t just wear masks. They were in full costume that took great creativity to put together!
My first Halloween at work that year was amazing. Our office had over 200 employees, and there was a contest for the best individual costume. Another competition was among departments—the accounting department came as the “fruit” from the Fruit of the Loom logo.
As you can imagine, not much work was accomplished, but it was great fun. And what an opportunity for a team building day as well, especially putting together a departmental theme. The best part was that EVERYONE participated—even the top executive staff.
Fast forward to the present day. Last year not even the kids could celebrate in traditional fashion due to the pandemic. Themed parties in the workplace were nonexistent because offices sat vacant. In 2021, things are slowly changing. Workers are split between office and remote sites, but does that mean you can’t have fun this Halloween? If ever there was a time to lighten things up at work, it’s now.
Halloween gives you a perfect excuse to have some fun at work and let your employees show their creativity. Not all in the office together? You can still have a virtual costume contest among team members—complete with masks. It would certainly take the drudgery out of the seemingly non-stop Zoom meetings.
Making room for light-hearted fun has such a positive impact on productivity, engagement and retention. Beyond that, what better way to let employees know that they belong—belong to a team and an organization which value their emotional well-being. Belonging is one of the seven universal needs that comprise emotional compensation—a topic we’ve been talking about lately. It’s a way to connect, build teams and relationships. It’s critical to creating positive employee experiences.
Cornelia and I are both passionate about creating respectful, positive workplace environments. And we share our passion through our blogs and our books. Our upcoming book, The Big Book of HR, 10th Anniversary Edition, is filled with practical, up-to-date information on topics that support positive workplaces. It’s available for pre-order at https://tinyurl.com/ejjbkp69.
Lighten up, have some fun, let the creativity flow within your team. Make them feel that they belong in your organization so they won’t want to leave.