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My employer is having a holiday party during the day. We've been informed that we are required to attend if we would normally work on that day (most folks are salaried and full-time but we have a few part-timers who aren't in every day).
I am actually surprised that I've been ordered to attend a holiday party.
Curious if others encounter this and what they do about it. I find myself wondering what would happen if I call in sick that day.
In this economy, you do what the boss tells you to do. If he says come to a party, you go to it. If he says "have a drink", you have a drink. Because a new job is not easy to find. The boss holds all the cards and you hold none. And I would not advise anybody to call in sick on any day in this economy unless you really are sick and can prove it.
We have them every year here and, while they are not mandatory, if you do not attend, you cannot enter the building or even different floors while the party is in progress because the building is locked down so the security people can attend the party. So it would be hard to do much else because you cannot move around freely. Since it starts at 12 on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I just duck in and eat and make sure my bosses see me there and then at 2PM, I am out the door on the way home!
Is work a popularity contest? Why is there so much emphasis at many companies on being a "team player" and pretending to care about your coworkers?
I go to work to work, I do a good job, and then I go home at the end of the day. I don't care to socialize with the random people I work with as they mean nothing to me. They are strangers who I happen to share an office with.
Shouldn't employers be more concerned about productivity than whether someone is or isn't interested in attending pointless social events?
Life is a game. One of the rules to succeed at the game is to like (or pretend to like) other people. I didn't make up these rules, but they are real. The exception is if you are super smart, then you can get away with being completely anti-social.
Is work a popularity contest? Why is there so much emphasis at many companies on being a "team player" and pretending to care about your coworkers?
I go to work to work, I do a good job, and then I go home at the end of the day. I don't care to socialize with the random people I work with as they mean nothing to me. They are strangers who I happen to share an office with.
Shouldn't employers be more concerned about productivity than whether someone is or isn't interested in attending pointless social events?
Being a team player and pretending to care about your coworkers are different things. A holiday party is pointless and pretending to care about other coworkers is silly. A team player is essential to tackle large projects.
Here is an example from my last job of one guy that was not a team player. While friendly, he had a hard time playing well with others.
There was a major issue costing us $100k/month. The manager of the business unit blamed it on Treasury VP. They were unable to resolve the issues over email or phone calls, but he was unwilling to listen to her. In confidence, he said she was incompetent and had been unable to fix the problem over several months.
The Treasury VP reached out to me and explained their processes. Once I had understood the processes, I pulled some data and traced the problem to the business unit.
Once the business manager saw the data, he resolved the issue within a week. We stopped the bleeding of $100k/month.
With large projects with multiple players or stake holders, I have always found this to be the case. I have to gain the trust of the one guy holding everybody else up. I have to get him to open up to me.
Last edited by move4ward; 11-12-2012 at 02:08 PM..
Just go. If the company is paying for the food and drinks why not take advantage. It might be a pain for those who already made other plans but surely nobody has to be there the entire time? Show up, make sure you are seen, eat something, make banal small talk, thank whoever for the invitation and leave as early as possible without causing offence.
My employer is having a holiday party during the day. We've been informed that we are required to attend if we would normally work on that day (most folks are salaried and full-time but we have a few part-timers who aren't in every day).
I am actually surprised that I've been ordered to attend a holiday party.
Curious if others encounter this and what they do about it. I find myself wondering what would happen if I call in sick that day.
I see nothing wrong with this at all. Your employer is paying you for a day of work but not requiring you to work a full day. Your employer is spending money on food for a certain number of people and he's not expecting to waste money. He's doing something nice for you.
I've worked at the same place for 24 Christmases now, and during some hard times we had an in-house Christmas party on a work day rather than a lavish Saturday night shindig. I don't recall anyone complaining or scheming to call in sick that day.
Our party is hundreds of miles away at corporate HQ in another city and will be full of people I don't know. We'll be comped if we travel to the party but honestly I can think of better things to do with my time than endure a 7-hour road trip for a 3 hour formal event with people I don't know, a night in a strange city, and a 7-hour road trip back. But that's just me.
I'm in the opposite situation. I work at HQ and people are flown and bussed in from the outer offices every 3 years for the "big" Christmas party. I'd love, just once, to attend an out of town party and have travel, hotel, meals, and everything comped!
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