Covid Didn’t Kill The Holiday Party—It Just Made Them Smaller | The World’s Most Powerful Women 2021 | Bob Dole’s Leadership Remembered

Plus: Better.com CEO Fires Employees In A Cold, One-Way Video Announcement

Hello Forbes Careers readers,

This year, small is in when it comes to in-person office holiday parties—if they’re happening at all.

Okta, the identity management company, never planned a large, company-wide party for its more than 4,500 employees, but offices and teams are arranging for smaller celebrations, as well as giving people more time off. At SAP North America, the company considered hiring another musician or entertainer for a virtual event—last year it was Sting—but decided against it, reimbursing each employee nearly $100 for the celebration of their choosing, with most planning some kind of small team get together.

And Catherine Lenson, managing partner and chief people officer  for SoftBank Investment Advisers, says its U.S. teams are planning small informal outside gatherings and low-key dinners in the U.K. She doesn’t know of any teams planning a virtual event like they had last year, which included a “well-intentioned” virtual quiz. “It was peak 2020,” Lenson says.

As 2021 ends and the work world enters its second holiday season upended by Covid, companies are tiptoeing back to in-person gatherings, substituting all-out, packed house soirées with much more modest affairs. A fall survey of 182 human resources executives by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found, for instance, that nearly 27% said they are having some kind of in-person party, with or without Covid-19 modifications, compared to about 5% last year. 

“The corporate market, although it feels like they want to, are not throwing large holiday parties this year,” Andrea Correale, founder of New York-based caterer Elegant Affairs, said in an email. “We are catering to smaller yet special in-office events.”

Meanwhile, some are adjusting their plans amid concerns about the new omicron variant, with some companies postponing in-person plans for now.

The shifting plans around the holiday party—and the cautious return to their use—shows just how much what workers value has changed over the last two years. More prefer time off to spend with their families than being compelled to spend additional time with colleagues. Getting together with close co-workers may be appealing—but a big soirée with the whole company isn’t. And worker safety is table stakes: It’s hard to expect people to attend a party in the office if they’re not having meetings there. 

Like many things amid the pandemic, the office holiday party is likely to remain—but its new shape could last, too. One event planner I spoke with in reporting today’s story—which you can read here—said a trend that began before the pandemic accelerated in its aftermath. The holiday party is shifting from a frivolous event designed to eat and drink in lavish surroundings into an end-of-year celebration for a smaller team or department to reward workers for their hard work. 

“It’s become something with a little more purpose,” says Greg Jenkins, a Los Angeles based event planner with Bravo Productions. That’s a pandemic-fueled change most people will probably be happy to keep. 

Cheers,
Jena 

On Our Agenda

What we’re watching this week

On Wednesday, airline CEOs head to Capitol Hill to testify about labor shortages after receiving billions in federal assistance. Where did the money go? How bad, really, are labor issues at airlines?

Also on Wednesday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri will testify on Capitol Hill. In this case, he’ll be in the hot seat about the social media platform’s impact on young users.

Ballots are due in a union election at three Buffalo-area Starbucks locations on December 8.  While no corporate-owned Starbucks locations in the U.S. are unionized, the New York Times reports, a victory could disrupt how the company manages its employees amid a broader shift toward union drives.

Forbes is hosting three exciting virtual events this week. Our last installment of the CMO Summit is today; the final CIO Next Summit is Wednesday and the Forbes Power Women Summit is set for Thursday. Please tune in!

Take Five

Five essential stories about work, careers and leadership from around the web

“Public displays of resignation” are becoming more common, reports the New York Times, as workers quit their jobs and announce it to the world.

The remote work revolution has led to a bonanza for consultants, writes Bloomberg, who may not always know much more than the people they’re helping.

In a tight labor market, the job of the assistant manager is one that’s “thankless, overworked and underpaid.” The Wall Street Journal explores the particularly difficult job in industries like retail and hospitality as they’ve had to pitch in for tasks below them while missing out on overtime pay and tips. 

What’s it like to work in a virtual world, free of distractions and the clutter of your home office? The New Yorker’s Cal Newport finds out, examining how virtual reality might fix the workplace. 

A key reason for the unionizing push at Amazon is the company’s constant monitoring and surveillance of its employees, reports the Washington Post.

Book Club

The latest reads on work, leadership and careers

It’s not necessarily a book about work, but we’d be remiss not to mention Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart, released last week, in this newsletter. Brown—a social work professor, top TED Talk-er and now a popular leadership consultant—is known for her work on emotions, vulnerability and shame. (That “bring your whole self to work” mantra? Classic Brown.) In her new book, she sets out to map 87 different emotions, giving people the language to use for each of them. In a workplace where emotional intelligence, empathy and mindfulness are more important than ever, it could give leaders more ways to talk with their people about what’s going on, even if Time calls it in their review “more a book of quick hits, a reference guide to dip into when readers need a little reorientation.”

Key quote: “When we don’t have the language to talk about what we’re experiencing, our ability to make sense of what’s happening and share it with others is severely limited,” Brown writes in the book’s introduction. “Without accurate language, we struggle to get the help we need, we don’t always regulate or manage our emotions and experiences in a way that allows us to move through them productively, and our self-awareness is diminished.”

Work From Home

Forbes contributors on working remotely – and working smarter

According to a recent poll, almost half of Americans would rather clean than commute to work.

As companies accept working remotely, here are ways to adjust your job application to the new workplace landscape.

With the rise of hybrid and remote work, try these tips for having a great meeting.

Learn To Lead

A special round-up of Forbes contributors’ insights on what leaders can learn from Sen. Bob Dole, who died Sunday

Bob Dole served his country and led by making people laugh, too.

Here’s what company executives can learn about leadership from Bob Dole.

The social media remembrances of Bob Dole’s leadership

Find Your Balance

Forbes contributors on work-life balance, stress, taking vacations and juggling it all

A new survey shows more than half of American workers want more personal time. The holidays may be the time to get it.

Amid the Great Resignation, understanding stress—and the difference between too much and too little of it—can make a difference.

As the Great Resignation persists, take a moment for self reflection before leaving your job.

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