Whether your agency employees are back in the office five days a week or working some sort of hybrid arrangement where they’re on site only a few days weekly, doing something for Halloween may be a wonderful way to boost your employees’ morale.
Here are ideas you may want to consider:
Office/Cubicle Decorating: Encourage your employees to get in the spirit of the season by decorating their workspace. Halloween is on a Tuesday this year, so if that’s a day that employees are in the office, you can have a decorating competition among employees. You can give individual awards (like agency swag or a nominal gift card) or hand out a ribbon and bragging rights until next year. Consider pre-determined themes – like a graveyard or haunted house – or leave it to your leaders and employees to develop a theme on their own.
For other ideas, read the House Beautiful article, 60 DIY Halloween Decorating Ideas for Every Kind of Crafter, published in August 2023, or 15 Easy & Brilliant Halloween Cubicle Decoration Ideas, published by Workspace Resource.
Costume Contest: A costume competition is a terrific way for your staff to show their creativity. But it is advisable to establish rules and publicize them to all employees. Avoid costumes that would embarrass anyone or might be too provocative. You want the contest to be engaging, without crossing the line concerning good taste at your workplace.
In evaluating costumes, consider “most original/creative,” scariest, worst, and best costumes. You may be surprised that one or more of your employees who seem shy wants to show off hidden talents when behind a mask or wearing a costume.
Good Housekeeping published 63 Work-Appropriate Halloween Costumes for This Year’s Office Party in September, which could offer some inspiration. Career Addict offers up 50 Fun, Spooky, Work-Appropriate Halloween Costume Ideas in another recent post.
For on-site workers, you can ask competitors to carve their pumpkins at home and bring them to work ready for judging.
Or, if you’re not concerned about the mess, you can have employees carve their pumpkins on site. Working under a limited timeline could yield more-interesting results.
For onsite carving, be sure to supply all of the tools needed – and a de-seeding station. If everyone guts their pumpkins before taking them to the “carving station,” you can limit the mess. Providing aprons can be helpful, too.
A table with paint, glitter, and other accoutrements gives everyone an equal chance to win. Or, to avoid any sort of mess, you can limit the competition to jack o’ lanterns decorated with a Sharpie.
Not unexpectedly, you can find lots of pumpkin carving ideas on Delish and Pinterest.
If your organization is “fully remote,” these ideas can still work. Just have people submit photos to determine your winners. It’s another way to make Halloween fun and keep employees enthused as peak season gets underway.
