S 2 Ep 41: Jingle Bells, HR Yells: Surviving the Company Holiday Party

Speaker A: Uh, hello, my wonderful office workplace warriors. And welcome back to another episode of Dear HR Diary, the unfiltered truth you wish you learned in management school. And today's episode is no different, because today is the Christmas issue, AKA the holiday party, AKA what I wish I knew, AKA if I have to dress up again in my ugliest Christmas sweater. Can we at least make it fun? Uh, I don't know. Welcome to today's episode. Maybe you just came back from your holiday Christmas party this past weekend. I don't know, maybe you've got some stories that you could tell. Maybe you're waking up and going, I hope I still have a job. Maybe you're wondering if Mark and it is going to sabotage your computer. I hope not. I hope none of that happened. I hope you had a fabulous holiday party. I think this is a really fun topic. I was telling my husband, going to talk about this in my podcast, and he said, oh, my gosh, remember all the cool holiday parties that we used to go to at my last job? And I said, yeah. And he goes, okay. So the CEO would always send out this crazy email, no matter what party it was. He would say, have fun, enjoy yourselves, but don't be that guy. And we all know what that guy is, right? That. That one that, like, maybe drinks too much, the one that's maybe a little too loud. The. Maybe that one, um, you know, says inappropriate things or makes the not too funny joke. You know, all those, right? So if anything, I hope you woke up this morning not shaking your head that you were that person at your holiday Christmas party. Holiday party. You know, that's another thing. We have to be really careful and not call it the Christmas party. And so I'm. I'm trying really hard to be very generic because some people will call it a Christmas party, and some people will call it a holiday party, and some people will call it, you know, the annual party, whatever you call it, right? So if you know it's to celebrate of the holiday season and how can you survive, maybe you're planning it. I don't know. I planned one too many holiday parties in my lifetime working in human resources. And I don't know why it dumps in the HR lap. I have no idea. But I have to tell you, the years that I haven't planned it, one of those is this year, I haven't had to plan a holiday party Christmas party for my company, for anybody's company. And I am very much appreciative of that because it is a thankless Job. And it generally starts with people trying to figure out kind of how to host it. And I work for this one company, and I came to work for them in October, and they came to my office literally the week I started, and the CEO and the CFO walked in my office and they're like, okay, yay, we're so glad that HR is here, so now you can play in our company party. And I'm thinking to myself, what? Huh? Huh? It's October. Like, you haven't planned your company party yet. You're all in a party and you want me to do what? Um, okay. How many people are you talking? Well, somewhere between the neighborhood of 100 to 150 employees, um, generally at a country club, generally, you know, fully catered, open bar, all the stuff that you would think holiday parties sometimes can be. Um, and, uh, literally had eight weeks to get it done. So thinking to myself, how in the hell am I going to do this? First of all, I was brand new. I didn't even know the employees, so I didn't know what it was that they liked. I didn't know what it was that people wanted. I didn't know. I mean, basically the CFO was like, oh, and you have literally $0 budget. So typical of a CFO. So, you know, let's talk about decking the halls, dodging disasters, and keeping your job come January. Uh, because if you've ever planned one, attended one, or woken up postparty regret because you said words to leadership you definitely shouldn't have, then, my friend, you are in the right place for today's podcast. And I just love the fact that I thought about talking about this because it's just always one of those things that some people shake their head and some people go, I don't know how I'm gonna get through this month. So big jingle bell shout out to you if you're playing in the Christmas party. If you've had to play in the Christmas party, or God forbid, you're about to have it. So why holiday party? Why? The holiday party is a trap, but we host it anyway, right? So companies swear that the holiday party is for employees. And, uh, I, yes, I am using my air quotes, but HR knows the truth. It's a strategic cocktail of, uh, morale boost, team bonding, and trying to prove that the company is fun without accidentally crossing into HR violation territory. And, I don't know, waking up on the other side of a viral TikTok. Right? Because, uh, the holiday party is the only event where leadership wants a great Time. Right. We want everyone to have a great time. Maybe if they're voluntold that they had to show up. And, you know, finance, uh, wants a tiny budget. Like I just said. My, um, CFO came to me and said, oh, there's 150 people coming. And you literally have to do it, like for, you know, $200. Good luck. I know you just started. Have fun. Employees m want an open bar because, truth be told, if they're gonna have to come to some, um, holiday party, then generally they, um, want to be rewarded, if you will, for coming to this party. I always thought that was interesting. And people tend to, um, I want to bring my kids to the hol, or, you know, I don't want to bring my spouse for whatever reason. Um, so it's always kind of interesting what employees expectations of a company holiday party should be. And then, of course, HR wants, uh, no one to go viral for the wrong reasons, because, let's face it, people have their cameras everywhere, you know. Oh, yes, that festive alignment at its very finest. And how do we pull all of this off? So sometimes you're fortunate enough to have a planning committee. I don't know. I've worked in organizations where I've had 10 people on the holiday event planning committee, and I've had one. Me. Yeah, I. I'm the problem. I'm the one planning the party. Uh, sometimes planning the party on a tiny budget for, you know, a couple hundred people by myself, including decorating, all the stuff that comes with it. But, you know, planning the corporate holiday party is like planning a wedding. If the bride, groom, an entire wedding party, hate meetings, can't agree on a theme and want everything under budget. So imagine you're a wedding planner. This is what you're faced. That's basically kind of what it is, right? So the classic contenders when it comes to this. So here's some stuff that you have to think about. If you're planning it or maybe you planned it and you're shaking your head like, holy moly, this is so true. So the theme debate, are we going to have a theme? Is it going to be classy elegance, which is what leadership wants? Like, what the heck you mean now? Now I have to go to this thing and I have to wear a cocktail dress. I can't come in my pajamas and my sweatshirt. I have to look halfway decent. You know, that's what leadership is thinking at the back of their brains. Um, employees are like ugly sweaters. Let's do an ugly sweater contest. Um, which I Always thought was interesting because what does that mean? People go out to the Goodwill and buy their great, great grandma's ugly cat Christmas sweater. No offense to my cat lovers out there, but, um, they're the ones that do the ugly sweater because it's a lot more casual, right? Like, some people like to get dressed up, some people don't. And I always thought that was an interesting conundrum. When you're planning a party, like, do people want to get dressed in their finest velvet attire or do they want to come wearing jeans? So, um, I used to say, um, festive attire encouraged. And then like, let it be the employee's decision as to how they can drift. You know, sometimes people want to do a casino party, some people want to do a carnival party, some people want to do a winter wonderland party. So as you're planning this, let's think throughly what that means. Like, what are your expectations of this event? My expectation is to just survive and hope no one goes to jail. Okay, so then of course, marketing, so marketing has to jump in and they're like, can it match our brand color palette? Right. So can it be PMS on the PMS pantone matching system for those of you that don't know what PMS is, Pantone matching system wheel. So that at least looks like our color brand. And I'm gonna tell you marketing people, I know, I've seen you, I know that you want it to match your. To match the marketing colors, which is great if your pantone matching system is Christmas colors. Not so great if it's like orange and turquoise. Doesn't always match the Christmas theme out there. Uh, and then of course, hr, can it match my sanity level? Because let's think about these HR people at the end of the are we doing, we're having to deal with open enrollment, we're having to do with end of the year taxes, we're having to deal with all the things to wrap up the year. And then you just say, let's have a holiday party. Okay, food options. Now we made it through the theme. We're going to come up with a fun theme that everyone likes. Well, I don't know. 60% of people like, uh, and now you got to come up with, uh, gluten free, vegan keto, sugar free, nut free, spice free, taste free. Hahaha. Just kidding. And then an option for Todd who doesn't eat green things. Because there's always a Todd, right? He, he wants Cheetos and cocktail weenies at this event. So it's there's always one of those. And then once you've made it through the food option, so you've narrowed it down, because, again, finance, you want to have filet mignon, and finance wants to have, you know, hamburgers. So it's just kind of trying to figure out what you're going to eat. And then entertainment. Are you gonna have a dj? Are you gonna have a band? Is, uh, you know Katie from research and development? Want to play her Spotify playlist? What. What does that look like? To me, it looks like HR in the background crying softly in the kitchen as we refill the soda station. So that soft whimpering is. Is HR just really happy that that were through it. Right. So, um, funny story. I was telling some of my friends, my HR colleagues and managers, I was talking to them about doing this podcast, and it was. It was crazy to hear some of the stories that people would tell me about holiday parties that they've either planned, attended, witnessed to. And. And some of these stories I'll tell on, um, this podcast. Of course, I'll leave out the names to protect the guilty. I mean, innocent, whatever you want to call yourself. And this one was interesting because one of my friends said I worked for this company, and it had, like, 50 employees, and so we got to bring our spouses to this event. If you didn't bring your spouse, you know, it was a. You didn't have to bring in plus one, but you have the opportunity to bring in plus one anyway. So the administrative assistant to the CEO did it. She. She was single. She wanted to come by herself. Um, she really just wanted to come and enjoy the time and then leave. But, uh, she was at the party, and this company hired a magician, and I'm not a magician person. I'm. They're fine. They're not my favorite form of entertainment. I get a little creeped out sometimes. But this magician would go up to these groups and, like, literally do the same card game, like, the same card trick, like, over and over. So literally was circulating this party and basically was, like, doing the same card trick 100 times. And this is starting to irritate everybody who saw the same card trick. But this administrative assistant, we'll call her Stacy, Stacy was in one of the groups, and this magician started following Stacy around, and Stacy went to the bar, and the magician came up to the bar, was having a conversation with Stacy. Hey, you want to see my card trick? And she was like, dude, I just saw it. Like, seriously? And he was like, here, I'll show you again. And so she stood there. She's very polite. She got her drink. She watched this magician show his card trick and basically was like, okay, thanks. That's nice. So then she wanders off and started talking to another group of people from the company. And Mark comes up. And Mark the magician comes up and says, hey, oh, my gosh. Um, let me show you my card trick. And Stacy's like, I just saw your card trick. But again, trying to be polite. So he did the same card trick. So it's time to eat dinner. Stacy goes to her table, sits down. Um, because she didn't bring anybody to this event, she had a chair sitting next to her. And lo and behold, who sits down next to her. Mark the magician. And by this time, Stacy's, like, kind of had it. She's like, I don't. I don't know who this guy is and what he thinks he is, but I'm just over him. So she goes over to the CEO and she's having a conversation with him. She's like, I don't know. This magician guy keeps following me around, and he's really making me uncomfortable. He's, you know, showed me the same card trick and just keeps talking to me, even though I tried to be polite. The CEO goes, okay, I'll take care of it. Turns out it was the CEO's nephew. So had to kick the magician out of the party because he was starting to stalk his admin. I mean, that's terrible. But this poor lady was totally uncomfortable. And here it was. Turns out it was the CEO's nephew. So, I mean, seriously, you never know what's going to go on at a party. Speaking of, at holiday parties, there's always those types of people, right? So you have those crazy people that come to every party, and, uh, maybe you're one of those. I hope that you're not. Hopefully you don't follow one of these categories, but, you know, you could probably look around at your next holiday party and identify some of these people. So you have the open bar Olympian. You know that. That person that goes to the bar, and it's the first one at the bar and unfortunately the last one to remember that there are cameras in the building, people that are holding cell phones that can record their action. Right? So it's the one that knows every brand of bourbon on the market. It could tell you how the bartender is making the old fashions wrong or has sampled every cocktail that was part of the party and now has moved on to his own type of beer tasting. You know, one of Those, Right? So it's. It's that open bar person that literally never leaves the bar. I. I have had many of those holiday events I've planned. In fact, funny story. So I was working, um, at a company. This is actually a personal story. I was working at a company. And again, the CEO, um, very, very nice. Um, very open to, um, making sure that everyone's having a good time. Um, and he set up his own personal bar tab. So everyone was given two drink tickets, and anyone that had access to the CEO's personal bar tab had the password. The password was the CEO's dog's name. I can't remember. We'll say the CEO's dog's name was Spot, right? So if you would go up to the bartender and you would tell the bartender, spot, then the bartender would put your drink on the CEO's tab even after you'd finish your two drink tickets. Now, there were roughly 300 people at this party, and I was trying to keep it under control with the two drink tickets. Uh, but lo and behold, by the end of the night, close to 100 people knew the CEO's spot bar tab. And what was supposed to be relatively small bar tab, I think ran into, like, three or $4,000. And this was, like, in the 90s. I would hate to think of what it probably was now, but by the end of the night, there were people doing shots. There were people, like, ordering buckets of champagne. It had way gotten out of control, but it very much was because the CEO was like, just put it on my Barb tab. And the secret password for my. This is the CEO giving out his password. It wasn't like other people. Then, of course, what happens, right? The rumor mill goes. And so everyone starts giving out the CEO's spot bar tab password. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm gonna hate to see this at the end of the night. And it was shocking. But of course, you know, he took it with a grain of salt, was like, that's on me. And, you know, paid for it. But again, it's one of those things that you just shake your head. Then you have the networking ninja, right? The one that comes. There's three sliders in. They, you know, cruise on by the buffet, and they're already pitching a new initiative to the CEO. Uh, they're like, hey, I got this plan. And I don't know, maybe it's Katie and Sam, and she wants to tell you about this new sales program. Who knows? But it's always someone that's you know, trying to network. Now, there is nothing wrong with networking, but there is also a tie in place for networking. Generally the holiday party with some liquor is involved, is not really the place, um, unless you're staying somewhere, but even then, probably want to leave her networking for later on. Then we have the introvert in the witness protection program. And that's generally, no offense to my IT people because I happen to be pretty good friends with some IT people, but those are the ones that are found in a corner with a plate of cheese, perfectly content. You don't approach them. They're the ones that, you know, just want to be left alone. They came for the free food, let's face it. Um, and generally they'll. Once, uh, dinner's over, then they're, they're out of there and you won't usually see them and you generally won't hear from them. And, um, that's why I had to laugh at a lot of times as my IT people or my network engineer people or, you know, sometimes my accounting people, no offense to accounting people. Um, but those are the ones that are the introverts that you don't generally see or you see once a year when they come out for the holiday party. You're like, oh, wow, I didn't know that that was Kara from research and Development. Okay. Have you ever found it interesting, like you've worked with these people and they bring their spouses and you just kind of shake your head. You're like, whoa, okay, that, that's not what I expected that person to be married to. One of my friends was telling me this story of the CFO. He was very button up type. Generally a CFO's are, you know, very, um, okay, I'll just call it just very anal. Um, and not very super, like, I don't want to say not friendly because according to my friend, the, uh, CFO is very cordial, but just, you know, not kind of an introvert. So he brings his wife to the holiday party and literally his wife makes friends with everybody by the time the party is over and is like quite lovely and people. And I mean, she basically was just this super, super friendly, I guess she worked in sales. Super, super friendly human being. And people are like, wow, you're married to Jim. That's, that's crazy. So I thought that was interesting when you start meeting people and their spouses. That's also one of those things that you never know is going to happen at a holiday event. Then you have the DJ hijacker, right? So it's like, play Mariah Carey one more guy. You know? You know, all that, um, all I want for Christmas. You don't tune into my podcast to listen to me sing, so I'm not going to torture you, but really, seriously. Or play the Macarena, uh, or play line dance. You know, it's always the one that, like, wants to hijack the DJ to get them to play. And then, of course, there is hr. Uh, and we're the ones running around like, buddy the elf, meet Secret Service, because we're secretly, or maybe not so secretly, scanning the room for danger and, uh, writing mental incident reports or making a mental note as to what we might be dealing with on Monday morning when it rolls around. So those of you that are in HR and you just came off your company holiday event, God bless your soul if you're having to have to deal with some of that. Okay, so let's talk about HR's real holiday wish list, right? So if Santa took HR requests, here's what we would actually ask for secretly. This is not a secret. We're gonna. I'm gonna spill the beads right here. Uh, HR wants employees who RSVP accurately, right? So, oh, my gosh. Or the ones that RSVP period. You know, it's always the ones that are, like, the night before the event and they're sending you a text message or an email. They're like, hey, me and my. Maybe you open it up to family. Me and my six coming. Um, I hope it's not too late to rsvp, dude, the numbers were due to catering, like, six days ago. Why. Why are you waiting so long? Like, seriously have to ask yourself, why are you waiting so long? At least I'm asking you, why are you waiting so long? It's always those or company funded Uber vouchers. I think that would be really, really cool. If you're going to have an open bar, if you're going to have any type of alcohol, maybe supply an Uber voucher. I think that would be a fabulous idea. $25 gift card to Uber that you could use. Or maybe you're just sitting out there calling Ubers for people or. You know, one of my friends said they worked for a, uh, organization that had a holiday party in a really relatively nice hotel, like a Marriott. And they would book groups and they would book a big block of rooms, and people were encouraged. If they were gonna dry drink it, drink that. They didn't drive and they just stayed at the hotel. They got relatively inexpensive costs. Like the company footed like 50 of the hotel bill. So if we're like 200, the company, uh, would give you a hundred dollars towards your, uh, towards your stay in the hotel. And if you didn't want to stay in a hotel, then at the time, uh, they would call cab for you. So I always thought, wow, that's, that's really respectful and quite a great idea if you're going to have that type of party. Zero inappropriate karaoke selections. Listen, if you're going to have karaoke, please keep it clean. You know, like, karaoke's fun. I can't sing. I've tried. People kick me off the stage like the Gong Show. Um, but it would be nice if you could pick some, uh, zero inappropriate, inappropriate. Zero inappropriate karaoke selections. I'm uh, one holiday party that doesn't result in HR rewriting a policy on Monday. Wouldn't that be fantastic? I mean, I don't know. Probably would be a little less. I wouldn't have much of a podcast to make fun of silly things that go on at holiday parties, but I think that would be cool. Or someone, anyone helping clean up. So if you're on that holiday event party, you should be responsible for cleaning up too. Don't, don't leave that to the one person that's in charge of the party. Like, honestly Santa, I'm not picky. Any of those would work. I would be happy. I'm not planning the holiday party this year, but I'm sending it out to the great universe so that anybody that is knows that I like sending them some, um, holiday magic. So let me give you, um, some advice about how leaders can avoid becoming a Monday morning incident report. So listen up. If you're a manager, you manage teams. Listen to this. Uh, don't drink like you're ah, at your cousin's wedding. Your leadership and not the entertainment. Now I have one too many stories, I have one too many HR complaints where people have drank at, uh, holiday events. In fact, one of my friends was telling me the story of how there were a group of guys that got together before their holiday event and it was a manager and the manager's team. There were three or four dudes on this manager's team. We'll call Mike. So Mike had a bunch of his guy employees get together before the event, kind of pre game and thought it would be fun to maybe. Sorry, cold season. Woo. I'm coming off a cold right now. I don't know if you can tell. So Mike had a bunch of people come over and pregame at his hotel room. And one of these guys, we'll call him Kitty. Kitty got a lot to drink. And Kitty got out on the road, got pulled over and got a dui. Kitty went back on Monday after getting sent dei, spending some time in jail. And Kitty basically said he felt forced to drink from his manager because his manager had this pre party in his room. They went to the event and then he drove home. Now, y' all are grown ass adults. You make your own decisions. But as a manager, let's be sure that we're setting the example. And pounding down shots and doing things like that is not the best example when it comes to leadership. Keep that in mind. Um, making the rounds. So if you're a manager and your team is there, it is not the time to ignore your team. So go see your team, make the rounds, get to know your team. They're there, they came. So say hello to them. Look present, smile, introduce yourself to their spouses. Great time to meet spouses, dates, whomever, and offer a compliment, right? So Cindy, um, I've said, you know, I meet Cindy. I tell Cindy, I meet Cindy's spouse. I said, you know, I'm super excited to have Sydney on my team. She does a really great job, really great job with xyz. So whatever that is always, ah, really, really nice to, like, praise your employee in front of their spouse. It does make a huge difference. Don't coach at the party. So again, no performance reviews, verbal or drunkenly applied. Like, don't go up to Sam and tell Sam he sucks and he's a terrible employee. No matter how drunk you are, please be careful on your alcohol and intake. And even if you don't mean it, or don't be going up to Sam and tell Sam how fantastic he is, even if he isn't all that great, right? So again, you're setting the example. Um, keep your hands, shall we say, appropriate. Um, I shouldn't have to say it yet here we are. And sometimes that happens, like on the dance floor. Like, you get on the dance floor and you get a little, I don't want to say freaky, but you get a little freaky. Like, be careful. Like, watch your hands. Your hand should stay, uh, yourself. And then, of course, make sure that you're thinking your team, right? Think the HR team. Think the team that planned it. Make sure that they know that you appreciate everything you do. Okay? What HR wants you to know as an employee. So not just as managers, you know, how do you keep yourself classy at an event? But, um, as an employee, you would you attend a bit, but, uh, we don't want to take your keys. Um, I have taken keys when I've noticed that employees are pretty intoxicated. Again, uh, one of the companies I worked for at the time, this is dated, but I've called taxis for employees. Now you could call an Uber for employee. Listen, I'd rather pay an Uber charge any day of the week than let you get out on the road because there are times that company actually can be held liable for you getting out on the road and getting in a car accident or hurting yourself or hurting somebody else. So keep that in mind. Leadership that if you're doing a company event, there is alcohol involved. You want to make sure that your employees are taken care of. Um, we don't want to reference a silent war. We don't want to referee a silent war between departments. So, um, let's say that sales hates operations. That never happens, right? I work for one too many companies where sales and operations do not get along. You don't want to stand in the middle of it, have to referee it. Now is not the time to like, pick fights between departments. So even if you are not liking Lita in sales and you are an operations manager, it's the time that you just have to kind of put that to the side and make sure that you are taking the higher road. And we don't want to stop you from telling your boss how you really, uh, we don't want to have to stop you from telling your boss how you really feel. It's not the time to do that either. Funny story again. Uh, these are, these are real stories and these are from HR colleagues. But, um, there was a, ah, an employee that was a little, shall we say, a little disgruntled. Will call him. What should we call him? We'll call him Greg. Obviously not his real name, but Greg was in charge of introducing the CEO, introducing, uh, the event planning committee. He was in charge of introducing the entertainment. Greg had a lot to drink and, uh, somebody gave Greg a microphone and an audience. And uh, Greg being disgruntled that Greg was, proceeded to air his feelings to everyone in the room about how much he hated his boss, uh, and how much he hated his co workers. Listen, this is not the time to tell your boss how you really feel. Um, uh, obviously that was a career limiting move for Greg. Um, Greg literally on Monday walked into this HR manager's office and immediately turned in his resignation and I guess did the walk of shame out of the building. So again, drunkenness and microphones don't always mix. So please keep that in mind. If you're having to do holiday toasts or you're having people that are responsible for running the show through a microphone, but lots of interesting stories. I am so sure that there are more out there. I'm sure that lots of people can fill me in on some stories of their own. I would be eager. If you have, you know, questions, comments, things that you want to share, please drop them on, um, my socials. I might have to share some of those. But lastly, I want to leave you with some holiday party rules, because who doesn't want it wouldn't be an HR podcast without some rules, right? So let's have some holiday party rules. Okay? Your bonus isn't hidden in the open bar, so pace yourself. You're not drinking like the company is being acquired tomorrow. If you're drinking that way, HR's already going to be worried. Okay? Don't tell your boss what you really think. It's a party, not Confessional Friday. And I think I covered that just a minute ago with Mr. Greg and his willingness to take over the microphone. Open mic night. Save this spicy honesty for therapy. Or, I don't know, maybe March karaoke equals career hazard. If you start thinking baby got back, your HR rep just aged 10 years or literally is probably pulling the plug. Holiday party hookups. I didn't even talk about this on this podcast, but I could tell you about the time that two people, like multiple stories have been told to me, but two people were hooking up in the supply closet and in walk the HR manager. This was actually during an on site holiday party. Yeah, no. Um, the answer to that is no. Like, just no. There are 365 other nights for poor decisions. Choose one of those. Not that night, right? Keep your hands to yourself. Uh, this is not a Hallmark movie. No mistletoe, no holiday cheer excuses, no lawsuits, right? So please keep your hands to yourself. Dance like no one is watching. Except everyone is, including the CEO and, uh, our security cameras and everyone else's cell phone. Right? So keep that in mind. If you wouldn't do it at work, don't do it at the holiday party. Think of this as an extension of your work. Right? So think of it as work, but with sparkly snacks and some cocktails. Don't be that person who asks if this party is mandatory. Nothing drives your HR person more crazy. That is like, is this mandatory? Do I have to go? And trust me, we just want to go. Listen, if our ass has to be there, yours should be too. It's called morale. Holiday morale. Right, morale. Uh, the party is at 10. Your bad decision should end earlier, like before you get to the party. And then HR is off duty. Don't make us on duty. We're tired too. So please behave. That's all we're asking is we want you to behave. So those are your funny holiday party rules. If you haven't been to your holiday party and it's coming up, please make sure that you follow those rules. So before you grab your sequin, blazer and questionable holiday sweater, if you're having an ugly sweater party, make sure you hit the follow on Dear HR Diary, so you never miss an episode. We're wrapping up the end of the year, about to go on hiatus for a few weeks to celebrate the holidays with my family. So please make sure you subscribe so that you know when I'm dropping new pods. And I'm super excited because we'll have a lot of guests next year. Um, I have several that are still, um, in my queue and get ready to launch. So looking forward to 2026. If today's holiday party survival guide made you laugh, cringe, or rethink your rsvp, please share this with your HR bestie, your favorite manager, or that one co worker who needs a reminder to behave near the open bar. And hey, leave me a review if you know if it keeps podcast fueled with caffeine stark and just enough holiday spirit to get us through the season. So, again, super excited. As long Jinko Bells pertain, super glad to have you here. I hope that your holidays are filled with lots of holiday cheer. And as always, thanks for tuning in to another episode of Dear HR Diary. And until next time, stay fabulous.