Company parties - Do staff deserve a party?

Corporate entertainment has many benefits to a company, staff and customers who receive service from a motivated and focused frontline team. There are some cultural differences on this issue and you can read the responses posted on Yahoo Answers:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhmsbaatJUKioaCYzRXigwvty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20111002231438AA8ioly

I would like to hear from you especially if you work in a factory, call centre, shopping centre, restaurant, hotel or a public sector service. I would also like to hear from other sectors and employers who do have company events and parties. A company that has some sensitivity to the workers needs and knows how to maintain a high level of morale will be more productive than one that does not. The management perspective can vary on this issue and the same can be said of the staff perspective in some industries. "You are here to work, not party!!" This rhetoric is common in many sectors, but it overlooks something very fundamental in business.

One of the most important assets that any company has is its staff, especially the ones that are fully committed and deliver on all the KPI's. From a customer perspective, receiving a service from a team which is suffering from low morale is an unpleasant experience. As we switch roles from being an employee to being a customer, the last thing that we want is poor service. Quite often there are systemic problems in an organisation which affect the morale of frontline staff and we encounter this on a daily basis as customers.

On your next journey, just have a closer look at the people who are selling things to you or delivering a service to you; from the train station, the cafe, the supermarket, the hospital, the bank, etc, and see which ones are focused on the job and the ones that would rather be somewhere else. When morale is good or high, the customers can easily tell the difference and they feel more happy about doing business with your company.

A staff party will not solve all the problems, but it makes the team feel appreciated and gives them an opportunity to bond better. The cost of a staff party will be repaid with increased productivity from improved morale, better customer service and reduced HR expenditure from better retention rates. My steel drum band covers many company parties, conferences and corporate workshops each year and it is truly amazing to see the extent that some companies go to treat their staff and reward achievement. At the highest levels, there is controversy about the scale of these rewards, but it is something inherent in the human psyche since childhood which appreciates awards, rewards, badges, bonuses, freebies, gifts, presents and parties. More important, is the feeling of being part of an organisation that cares, this is the real employee benefit. In shows like Undercover Boss, it is an emotional experience for some CEO's when they see how some staff really care about the job and the way that the company had failed to develop those people. Having the right crew or the right team is so important if a company wants to maintain a competitive advantage.

If your team had the highest sales for Q1 and the company gave you a champagne treat or sent the entire team to enjoy a luxury Spa teatment, it would certainly motivate you to repeat the success in the next quarter. There are a number of counter-arguments against this strategy, but the message is really about recognition and it is a matter for each company to determine the extent of this policy.

Compare this to a situation where you have the highest sales and there is no recognition. How would you feel? Please share your thoughts on these issues, it will be appreciated.