Easy Employee Appreciation: Halloween Fun!

Halloween is a fun holiday to celebrate at work and an opportunity to say thanks for teamwork and extra effort. Don’t miss this easy way to show your employee appreciation and create engagement. It’s also the perfect time to make everyone feel good after the fallout from the government shutdown and the economic climate. There are plenty of low or no-cost fun things to do at work to let employees enjoy some Halloween spirit, with costumes topping the list.
About Halloween Costumes at Work
Allowing employees to dress up in costumes at work to celebrate Halloween is fun for everyone, but communicating a few workplace guidelines is always a good idea. Career and work expert and career writer Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter cautions employees about wearing overly sexual or inappropriate costumes to work. She suggests reminding employees to keep the business climate in mind when planning costumes.
Take advantage of Costumes at work by:

1. Having a parade around the office (guaranteed to make everyone young at heart again)
2. Taking lots of pictures and make a fun collage for later; Perfect fodder for the company blog about how fun it is at your workplace
3. Giving out a variety of prizes so lots of people can share in the winning

Halloween Potluck Lunch
Having a potluck lunch for Halloween allows employees to share favorite dishes, be creative and create “spooky” Halloween-themed food, and encourages feelings of camaraderie and kinship. When everyone brings something to share and eat together, employees and supervisors alike benefit from the goodwill and good feelings that having fun together generates.
Get a complete menu and avoid having a table full of chips and cookies by asking people to sign up to bring specific items such as drinks, main entrees, salads, side dishes, and desserts. Keep things organized by writing names on tape on dishes as they come in so no one loses their containers.  If you have allergy concerns in the office, then it’s helpful to label dishes too.
Halloween Fun
Plan a few games at lunch time on Halloween day to add a little lighthearted activity. Don’t plan anything very complicated or time-consuming, but stick to quick, holiday-themed activities such as pumpkin bowling using small pumpkins as bowling balls, a Halloween word search game finding words from the letters in the word Halloween, or a Halloween trivia game.  Chances are you’ll have employees who would love the chance to poll colleagues and organize a few games.
Instead of a Party or Potluck
If a full party or potluck is too much for your company, consider hosting a Halloween ice cream social – and use Halloween candy as toppings!
Candy corn, Smarties, crumbled chocolate bars, and other favorites make delicious, festive toppings to celebrate the day with a nod to the tradition of collecting as much candy as possible during Trick-or-Treating.  Distribute your own Halloween treats of $5 gThankYou! Ice Cream Gift Certificates so employees can share the fun at home.
Time Off to Trick-or-Treat with Family
Use Halloween as an opportunity to inject a little fun into the workday and let employees enjoy the holiday with colleagues.  Be an office hero by allowing employees to leave early to trick-or-treat with family; they will be grateful that you did.
Whatever you plan for Halloween, don’t forget it’s an opportunity to show employee appreciation and build engagement.
For more affordable, meaningful and practical Employee gifts, download our free 2 page Brochure and learn more about gThankYou! Certificates of Gratitude.