What $4 pumpkin can teach us about workplace culture

There are few things more revealing about a workplace than what happens when someone suggests a little fun.

Put a pumpkin on the reception desk, announce a Halloween costume day or suggest that everyone take 20 minutes to enjoy some candy and you may discover that your organization falls into one of two camps.

There are those who embrace the opportunity to do something different and those who immediately begin calculating the cost of lost productivity.

Somewhere, a manager is currently wondering whether the employee who spent 15 minutes decorating their office door could have used that time to answer three emails. Another is worried allowing costumes will somehow lead to a complete collapse of professional standards. A third is quietly trying to figure out whether a bowl of miniature chocolate bars can be claimed as a business expense.

To be fair, there are legitimate considerations. Workplaces have responsibilities, deadlines and customers to serve. Not every job lends itself to dressing up as a zombie and nobody wants a visit to the emergency department delayed because the person operating the equipment is dressed as a giant inflatable dinosaur.

There are safety rules, professional expectations and practical realities to consider.

But for workplaces where a little seasonal fun is possible, Halloween presents an opportunity to ask a bigger question: what does it cost us to let people enjoy themselves at work and what might we gain by doing so?

The financial investment is usually pretty modest. A few pumpkins, some candy, perhaps a prize for the best costume and a little time to decorate. Nobody needs to rent a haunted house or hire a Halloween consultant.

Yet employers sometimes put considerably more effort into complicated employee engagement initiatives than they do into the small things that make a workplace enjoyable. We survey employees about morale, bring in speakers to discuss collaboration and spend hours developing strategies to improve workplace culture. Then someone suggests a costume contest and suddenly we need a business case.

Of course, a pumpkin isn’t going to solve a retention problem. A bowl of candy will not repair a strained relationship with a manager, fix chronic understaffing or compensate for wages that haven’t kept up with the cost of living. If your workplace culture is terrible, a plastic spider on the photocopier is unlikely to save it.

But that doesn’t mean small gestures have no value.

Work is where many of us spend a substantial portion of our waking hours. The people we work with can have an enormous influence on whether those hours feel tolerable, enjoyable or like an extended hostage situation. Having an opportunity to laugh together, share a silly moment or discover that the usually serious person in accounting has a surprisingly convincing pirate costume can help people connect in ways that routine work conversations don’t always allow.

These moments don’t need to produce a measurable return on investment to be worthwhile. Sometimes, a pleasant workplace is worth having simply because people deserve to enjoy at least some of the time they spend there.

That said, there is a catch. Nothing takes the fun out of workplace fun quite like being told you are required to participate.

The employee who loves Halloween may have been planning a costume since August. Another may not celebrate the holiday, may not want to spend money on an outfit or may simply have no interest. All of those positions are perfectly reasonable.

The goal is to create an opportunity for people to participate, not another obligation to add to their already crowded calendars. If dressing up is encouraged, make it optional. If there is a contest, let people enter if they wish. If someone turns up in their usual clothes, resist the temptation to ask why they aren’t participating or to make them feel as though they have failed a test of team spirit.

Not everyone expresses enthusiasm in the same way. The employee who brings in homemade treats may be contributing just as much as the one dressed as a particularly convincing Dracula. And the employee who does neither may still be an excellent colleague who deserves to enjoy their lunch in peace.

Managers also need to remember a little fun should not become a major administrative undertaking. If organizing Halloween requires six planning meetings, a sign-up spreadsheet, volunteer committee and post-event survey, it may be time to reconsider the scale of the operation.

Keep it simple. Put out some candy. Let people decorate their workspaces if they wish. Hold a quick costume contest, provided costumes are appropriate and safe for the environment. Consider a small prize, but don’t spend a fortune trying to make the event memorable.

The point is to give people a pleasant break, not to compete with Boo at the Zoo.

And yes, there should be some boundaries. Halloween is not a magical 24-hour period during which ordinary workplace expectations disappear. Costumes should be respectful and suitable for the setting. Decorations should not create safety hazards, interfere with equipment or become someone else’s problem to clean up. Customer service still matters, deadlines still exist and the person who has an urgent request probably isn’t going to be impressed by the fact that you’re dressed as a mummy.

A good manager can communicate those expectations without turning the occasion into a lecture about professionalism. Adults generally understand that there is a difference between having a little fun and neglecting their responsibilities. Treating employees as though they cannot distinguish between the two is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the organization’s hiring practices.

There is also something to be said for what these small decisions communicate about trust. When managers allow reasonable flexibility, they signal that they believe employees can exercise good judgment. When every minor deviation from routine is treated as a threat to productivity, the message can be quite different.

This doesn’t mean every workplace needs a Halloween celebration.

Some environments have operational, safety or service requirements that make costumes and decorations impractical. Others may have employees who would prefer not to participate, and that should be respected. Workplace culture is not improved by forcing everyone to enjoy the same things.

But where a little fun is possible, employers should consider allowing it without overthinking the matter.

We don’t need to pretend Halloween is a sophisticated organizational development strategy. It is a day when people carve pumpkins, eat too much candy and occasionally discover their colleague has been hiding an impressive talent for impersonating a movie villain. That can be enough.

The real opportunity is in recognizing that work doesn’t have to be joyless to be productive. Employees can take their responsibilities seriously without taking themselves seriously every minute of the day. A workplace can maintain high standards and still make room for a laugh.

So go ahead and buy the pumpkin. Put out the candy. Let people wear the ridiculous hat, provided it doesn’t violate a safety rule or block their view of the computer screen.

Just don’t expect the pumpkin to fix your workplace culture. That part is still management’s job.

And if the employee who dressed as a giant inflatable dinosaur gets more compliments than the senior leadership team, perhaps take it as useful feedback rather than a productivity concern.

Tory McNally, CPHR, BSc., vice-president, professional services at TIPI Legacy HR+ (formerly Legacy Bowes), is a human resource consultant, relationship builder and problem solver. She can be reached at tmcnally@tipipartners.com