The holiday season is both fun and stressful. How do you keep the corporate festivities respectful and fun for all? Different companies have different cultures. A multi-faith, seasonal display of Christmas tree, menorah and a Kinara (the holder for Kwanzaa candles) may be completely acceptable for one company, while another may opt strictly for seasonal decorations. (e.g., snowflakes, and seasonal flowers) A ‘holiday party’ is a typical name for the seasonal event and sounds neutral, but religions, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, don’t celebrate these winter holidays. In fact, their faith bars them from observing. One suggestion is to put together a multi-faith team to help you plan and coordinate the event(s) of the season. That way, you get diversity of views.
     In these tight economic times, it may be a burden for your coworkers to have to buy gifts. If gift giving is part of your organization’s culture, you may want to limit the amount that people can spend and/or have a re-gifting gift exchange where each person brings something from home that they no longer need or want. Again, set a dollar limit on these. Another idea is to have a service gift exchange. Offer up to one hour of service to a fellow employee like filing or straightening out that junk drawer!