Your eyes are half closing, body is slouched and time couldn’t be going more slowly. It’s only lunchtime and you feel like your day is dragging on. Even if you love your job, everyone has those days where they need a little pick-me-up to get through the day. With the cost of living continually rising, everyone is feeling the pressure – unless you’re rich of course.
Anyone in human resources recognizes the importance of the well being of a company and their employees. If employees aren’t overall happy and healthy, the company won’t be either. Thus why it is important to offer incentives to all your employees. Incentives will motivate them to want to work, and do a good job while they are at it. This explains why big corporations offer competitive salaries, benefits and other encouragements. Creating a competitive hiring environment means attracting the right individuals to do the job.
Other than great salaries and benefits, there are other things to do to keep the positive momentum flowing. While staff socials and holiday parties are common, some offices take it one step further and get more personal with their employees. Having an office happy hour is an example of this that will surely brighten anyone’s day.
According to Stats Canada, in 2014 the median after-tax income of Canadian economic families and persons not in an economic family was about $55,600. This is pretty low considering the average income you need to earn just to afford the average cost of a home. This past September 2016, Workopolis posted an article where they broke down the average income to afford living costs per major city across Canada. After adding these numbers together and getting a median, the average income across Canada required to afford housing costs alone is an approximately $82,666.
After seeing the numbers yourself, you can only imagine why it is so hard to be motivated to work. Canadians aren’t making enough to afford living costs, but they are still coming to work to try. The least you can do as a company is make the best of your employees’ workday. This is why your office needs a happy hour!
Now that you know why, let me help educate you on everything you need to know when hosting your very own.
1. Rent a Mobile Bar
All you really need is a space to do it, a bar and a bartender. It’s that easy, especially with companies like Bartendo who offer these services all under one roof. Renting a bar will allow you to hold your office happy hour in any room you desire. Since the mobile bar can be set-up anywhere, this creates much more options that will only make your life easier.
Decide if you want to buy beverages, or if you want to leave it up to the company. Either way, you will have the resources needed to host your happy hour. Make sure to offer both alcoholic, and non-alcoholic beverages. This ensures everyone gets to enjoy their time, even if they don’t drink. If you decide to leave the supply up to the company, this will only be less of a headache for you! The event staffing company will allow you to pick exactly what you want to serve. You can also explore packages that work best for you. Depending on you and your staff, you can decide if a cash or open bar option works best.
2. Hire a Bartender
Now that we have already established we need a bar, that means we will need a bartender too! While you can just take your staff to the bar, transportation, table space and time are all factors that will influence if your staff will actually show. Bringing the bar and bartender to your workplace, will only make it easier for you to plan and your staff to enjoy.
At Bartendo, our bartenders are selected very carefully to assure our clients get the best possible service. By hiring a bartender, you will have piece of mind knowing your employees are being served appropriately and professionally. Having a bartender also allows for flexibility. They can stay behind the bar, make their rounds or even set up a separate station for cocktails when you first walk in. Regardless, they will be the perfect and necessary addition to any successful office happy hour.
- Do it Frequently
Every year holiday parties, award ceremonies and other staff socials are hosted. But who wants to wait a whole year to have a little bit of fun? This is why you should be hosting a happy hour, and often! With the event staffing companies available, it really takes no time to plan, and it’s convenient for your staff. I would suggest holding your happy hour at least quarterly. This allows sufficient time between work deadlines, and gets your employees pumped.
Better yet, you can set up your office happy hours ahead of time! With Bartendo, we can work out a plan and schedule that will allow you to be prepared, and able to concentrate on other tasks in the meantime. When the dates are chosen, make a posting so your employees get more than enough notice to complete projects, and look forward to their happy hour!
The happier we are, the more productive we are. That is a human fact and many companies nowadays are missing this important piece of knowledge. The office happy hour is only one of many ways you can motivate your employees. We suggest this because with Bartendo, it is easy to do and affordable – especially compared to the cost of other work outings.
Your office needs a happy hour because creating an adventure in your workplace will only lead to healthier and more productive individuals. Your company will surely grow as you create a positive workplace and promote healthy energy between your coworkers. Contact us today if you have any questions about renting a mobile bar, hiring a bartender or any other event staffing services.