Halloween – a Team Building/Community Awareness/Customer Bonding Experience

 

Make Halloween a Team Building/Community Awareness/Customer Bonding Experience

Halloween is one of the most popular holidays in the United States. In earlier blogs I’ve talked about how everyone has an inner child in them that likes to have fun. Top employers have discovered that by tapping into this inner child, they help employees become more socially interactive at work.

 

This year, why not use this holiday to have fun with your team, customers and your community? People never forget special “fun” days and as an employer, you will show the lighter side of your culture.  By making it an annual tradition, your employees will look forward to this holiday and it will create a happier workplace.

 

Here’s How:

 

• Create a “Halloween Extravaganza Challenge” and have each department come up with a theme. One department could be the Wizard of Oz while another could concentrate on the Star Wars characters.  Get them to dress up and decorate their cubes, office, break rooms, etc.    Make it a contest and judge the best team.   Invite executives of your company, customers and members of the community and media to be judges.       Award prizes to the best-dressed team, most creative and outrageous decorations and  a bonus for any department that really goes above and beyond the fun factor by putting on a team show.

When I was at Southwest Airlines, we looked forward to this day all year long. Southwest’s tradition of celebrating this holiday is legendary. In fact, one year I flew in from Houston to Dallas and invited a group of customers to fly with me, the only stipulation was they had to dress in their pajamas. Running late for my flight, I ran down the concourse dressed in my pajamas, with curlers in my hair and my floppy slippers, and heard a kid say to his mom, “Man, she must really have overslept…she didn’t even take the time to dress!” Years later I still get reminded by those customers of the fun time we had.

 

 

• Invite the community to stop by. Many local schools love taking the time to bring kids and trick or treat as they walk through your offices.  Many employees’ children could also participate.

 

• Invite the media to cover the event and you may get some free press as stories come out about your “fun” workplace.

 

At the end of the day, regardless of how far you take this event, you will engage your employees while creating a fun place to work.

 

Companies who are voted “Top Employers” by their employees typically celebrate holidays in fun ways and many take this particular one to the next level. The “trick” is to spread the word…the “treat” is that you will strengthen your bond with your employees, customers and the community. So go ahead, this year make Halloween THAT day…one all will remember.

 

Lorraine Grubbs is a an author and Team Building Expert and helps companies create “Happy Workplaces”