The spirit of Christmas is still alive in UK business

The office tinsel has been hung, Christmas cards are being stuck on office walls but are you really in the mood for Christmas? New research conducted by Spring Personnel, the local recruitment agency, shows that the spirit of Christmas is still alive in UK businesses despite reports to the contrary. The staff Christmas party is a very welcome company gesture, which also helps to make people feel part of the team. Spring Personnel spoke to nearly 2,000 HR professionals across the UK with over 70% of respondents saying their organisation offers some form of Christmas incentive to their staff, be it the traditional Christmas bonus, a day shopping, subsidised staff party or even a free turkey.

ìIn todayís competitive workplace we find it very encouraging that companies still embrace the true seasonal festivities. We hear so many negative stories about the amount of overtime people do and stress in the work place, we thought we would see how proactive companies are in addressing these issues,î said John Simmonds, managing director for Spring Personnel.

ìWe encourage our clients to do what they can to make their staff feel valued members of a team and Christmas is a particularly important time of the year to make that gesture. It is good that the traditional staff Christmas party is still alive; it may have developed into a boat trip or a themed party but the message is very clear: ëthank you for working hard all year and hereís to a better 2006í.î