America’s Deadliest Holiday is Right Around the Corner… The Art of Avoiding Drunken Disasters

• Tod Browndorf
• Jul, 1 2014
• management
• HumanResources
• Safety
• Holiday Parties
• Office Politics

When the holidays arrive, employees look forward to cutting loose at the annual office party, but landmines are all over the place when the computers are switched off and the gang lets loose. Alcohol and employees could be a recipe for disaster… that’s bad regardless whether you shake it or stir it!

Think of employees like a group of college-age kids… they may need to have their car keys taken away from them before they start up with the beer-ponging.

Minimizing the Sloppiness

We don’t want to be total killjoys by nixing the annual party for fear that the employees won’t be able to handle their liquor, but there are a few safeguards that we can enforce to help keep party revelers from doing harm during (or after) the festivities:

• Make sure there’s plenty of food: After a full day, the last thing you want is everyone drinking on an empty stomach. An ample selection of nibbles will encourage everyone to eat while they imbibe.
• Don’t allow employees to serve themselves: A well-organized catered party always includes servers and bartenders. People who do those jobs regularly will know when someone has had too much to drink.
• Reserve a group of designated drivers: Offer a few altruistic individuals an extra little bonus to act as designated drivers. That way, you cut down the chances of someone whose had a few too many getting behind the wheel .
• Consider NOT serving alcohol at your event: Yeah, it’s an extreme measure, but if you feel your employees might be prone to irresponsible behavior in a festive setting, better safe than sorry.

Keep in mind, with this world of social media in which we live, there might be a few unsavory selfies and other images that find their way onto Facebook pages and Instagram accounts. Try to cut everyone some slack, because chances are the hangovers might be accompanied by a few sheepish apologies.