Employee Holiday Event Planning in 2022 - What Big Businesses Are Doing

The holidays are upon us, and now is the time for businesses of every size to start thinking about how they want to approach this year’s employee holiday event planning. For some, team bonding and engagement events are at the bottom of their to-do list for the holiday season. With the chaos of Q4 and the ongoing strategic planning for the new year, it can be hard to make time for your employees during the hectic holiday season. 

We recently surveyed over 102 companies. These responders come from top companies like Progressive, Hubspot, Pfizer, Salesforce, Glassdoor, and more. Our findings showed that engagement events and activities are a top priority for big businesses. Which means they won't let them be brushed under the rug this year. Instead, these businesses will keep these engagement activities top of mind during the holiday season and are open to finding new and innovative event planning solutions.

Here’s what you need to know:

Holiday Parties Are Making a Comeback

Remember back in 2020, when holiday parties were widely canceled around the world? Companies of every size turned to Zoom to host happy hour events and ugly Christmas sweater parties. This was at the peak of the pandemic. While everyone was still learning how to navigate a remote work environment amidst a COVID-19 surge. 

In 2021, in-person holiday parties returned at a smaller scale. However, businesses had already expanded their hiring to different cities and states. This means their entire workforce wouldn’t have the opportunity to come together and connect during the most joyous time of the year. 

According to our survey results, in 2022, 63% of respondents said they will have a holiday party of some kind this year. That tells us that holiday parties are here to make a comeback in 2022, even though they may not look the same as they always have.

What Companies Are Looking For

Our survey showed that 24% said they will have an in-person holiday party, 17% will have a virtual holiday party, and 22% will have a hybrid holiday party to accommodate both local and remote employees. The results were neck and neck, showing that the big companies are considering all options for holiday parties in 2022. 

Virtual holiday parties are the best option for a growing remote workforce. However, finding a trustworthy solution to help you with party planning can be difficult. In fact, over 11% of the respondents said finding a great event provider was one of the hardest factors.  

For those planning a virtual holiday party, 49% said they will include alcohol in their event, meaning they need something with alcohol shipping options to ensure their team can be included and feel appreciated. 54% also said they plan on booking something with food as a part of the event, and 26% said they will simply offer a food stipend. 

Many companies plan multiple events to ensure their engagement activities are enjoyable for everyone. When planning a virtual holiday party from scratch, there are always several things to keep track of that cause the process to be over complicated. With pre-planned virtual solutions, your business has an opportunity to join in on the fun and leave the party planning to the professionals. 

The Challenge for Holiday Parties in 2022

With so many companies still planning a virtual option for their holiday event, this poses challenges. Virtual event team building is already challenging as it is. 

Over 31% of respondents felt that finding an event that everyone likes is the most significant pain point. While 27% worry they won't find something that fits their budget. 

These pain points are recognized by big companies and prove to cause some initial frustrations during the party planning process. Not only that but finding an event to book that everyone will enjoy that also includes food and alcohol is difficult. 

Plan Your Next Holiday Party With Elevent

Luckily, we have a solution for you. Elevent offers a wide variety of holiday events, making booking something your whole team will love easy. All our virtual holiday parties, happy hours, cooking experiences, and more are preplanned and ready to go. All you need to do is find the perfect option for you, pick a date, and share it with your team. We’ll handle everything from there. 

If you’re interested in booking a holiday event this year but aren’t sure where to start, look at our virtual holiday party collection to get started. 

If you have any questions about our events or experiences, connect with the Elevent team! We’re here to help you every step of the way.

Originally published at Sep 23 2022, 4:09:45 PM. Updated on Sep 28 2022.