Holiday parties smaller, simpler | The Wichita Eagle

Set out the canapes. Pour the Champagne. Holiday parties continue as a tradition at many companies despite the hard times, though they're often smaller and more subdued.

Many Wichita companies canceled parties in 2009 to cut costs and signal that managers weren't spending frivolously amid layoffs.

Some locals say the number of parties is actually up this year from last, and others say they're down. But a couple of things are clear: The number of people at the parties remains way down from 2008, and the parties this year promise to be less expensive. They may be held in a home rather than at a restaurant; potluck instead of catered; beer instead of liquor.

Nationally, a recent Society of Human Resource Management survey showed that 61 percent of employers were planning on a holiday party this year, the same as in 2009.

Some companies are saying a party this year is even more important than in earlier years. Everybody is stressed out, employers say, and this is a way for companies to express appreciation to those who remain.

Ad agency Sullivan Higdon & Sink has what it calls a winter celebration in the weeks after Christmas.

It was pretty glum in early 2009 after some big accounts left or cut back. The agency cut staff. Business has improved a bit since then, said managing partner Sam Williams.

"What we have learned is that good people are really hard to find, and even in hard times when you have to make hard decisions, you have to make sure you take care of them," Williams said. "It is a tool to get together outside of the office, enjoy each other's company and say thank you."

A comeback, maybe

Cox Machine didn't have a Christmas party last year. The staff voted to donate the money to the United Way as a way to contribute to a community in pain.

This year, after landing its biggest contract ever, to supply Spirit AeroSystems on the 787, the company will have a party — as well as continue its employee donations to the United Way, said Sara Carpenter, the company's human resources manager.

This year, they're headed to the Loony Bin comedy club for some barbecue and jokes, Carpenter said.

Ben Arnold of Corporate Caterers said the number of holiday parties he catered peaked in 2007 at 74, dropped in 2008 and hit bottom in 2009 at 44.

But this year it's way up, to 81 events, including a recent lunch at BG Products.

But while the number is nearly double, the revenue from those events is up only 40 percent, he said.

Events are smaller, he said, as employees have been let go or the group invited is smaller. It might be a department head inviting 25 employees to his house rather than a dinner for all 200 employees at the office.

"It's 'I want to do something, but I can't take care of everyone,' " Arnold said.

Judy Eberly of Eberly Farm said she is seeing open dates this year that she didn't even in 2009. And the numbers at many events appear to be fewer.

"Last year it might be 125, but it's nothing this year for them to be 80," she said. "I thought they'd finished thinning the ranks last year, but not so."

Colette Baptista of Colette's Catering said she used to get a lot of callers doing price shopping, but not anymore.

"The ones who were on the edge are just doing it themselves," she said.

Needless expense?

Some holiday parties became controversial in the recession, said Nate Regier, an organizational trainer and consultant with Next Element Consulting.

Some employees view a holiday party as a reward or a chance to come together as a team, but others see it as a needless expense in the midst of cutbacks.

"They say, 'That turkey could have put $10 in our paychecks,' " he said.

That's why, Regier said, employers should be careful about arranging such parties, perhaps leaving them up to employee votes.

For Wichita Technical Institute, it's been a pretty good year as more students sign up for classes. A party is just a nice extra, said owner Barry Mannion.

"We work pretty hard all year," he said, "and it's basically a dinner where we can all get together, relax and have a good time."