Corporate Christmas spirits still high - Advent season giving way to inventive celebrations

The season of Advent has been transformed into a season of inventions as many corporate companies have had to rethink their original plans to fête staff, business clients and customers in order to create COVID-safe alternatives to show their appreciation.

This year has been a difficult one, with Jamaica having to cope with a global pandemic, said Okelia Parragon, the sales and client services manager at Mayberry Investments Limited, a company that is known for some of the most creative soirées of the season.

She added, “This crisis has affected ways of working — and, to be honest, the ways of having [celebrations], for every company in the country”.

Last year, Mayberry Investments rolled out the proverbial red carpet — in blue, the company’s colours — for staff who glammed up for the Hollywood-themed, end-of-year celebration. However, they were unable to execute their usual Christmas party and festivities this year due to health and safety guidelines. Instead, to keep attitudes merry at Mayberry, the budget originally dedicated to the event was fragmented to gift each staff member with a Progressive Grocers certificate.

“To ensure that we still brought some cheer in the challenging Christmas, the staff was provided with a gift certificate to make their own special occasions safely at home. In addition to that, we continue our tradition of gifting every team member with Christmas hams. Philanthropy is a big part of who we are at Mayberry, so we do continue to the reach out to the less fortunate As always, we include our staff in all outreach, even if things are done a little differently, given the extenuating circumstances,” Parragon shared with The Gleaner.

Another company which took a similar alternative was Barita Investments Limited, which held its 2019 staff and client party at the Spanish Court Hotel and featured performances by reggae recording artistes Protoje, Lila Iké and Agent Sasco.

Head of Wealth Management at Barita Investments, Kerrie Baylis, shared, “Both staff and clients received gift tokens such as Christmas cakes. We also decked our branches in festive décor which, though simple, is highly appreciated by our team and clients alike, who often comment that once they step in our offices their spirits are lifted.”

She continued, “We at Barita are bold in everything that we do, and that extends to how we like to cater to, entertain and show our appreciation to our clients and our team (especially at Christmas). In-house treats were also available to our clients all season long, while, internally, the Barita team did a secret Santa/pixie gift exchange, which was a big hit and lots of fun. Our team members eagerly participated, and we really felt the spirit of Christmas throughout the office.”

The annual Customer Appreciation Day festivities which they normally start to plan as early as August of each year and includes a live concert feature, were halted.

“That being said, we have tried to be creative and find other ways of exchanging laughter and joy during this festive season. Our efforts to spread the joy extended beyond our walls through the launch of our online holiday initiative — ‘Wishing Tree’. This initiative is allowing the opportunity for three participating charities to receive a sum of $100,000 each from Barita,” Baylis said in her interview.

This year has been tough for corporate Jamaica: furloughs, lay-offs, pay cuts, along with juggling various responsibilities at home — from the caring of children and elders to virtual meetings. Another Zoom link up or Google Hangout session was not going to cut it for Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL). They made a bold statement by taking their annual ‘12 Days of Christmas’ giveaway festivities online. According to Vice-President of Marketing, Communications and Sponsorships, Gail Abrahams, it was in lieu of the usual celebrations as most team members were operating from home.

“Our Christmas activities over the years have focused mainly on our team and vary from group-wide parties to lunches and other activities at the team level across our offices islandwide. This year, we really focused on ensuring that we had constant giveaways, gifts and activities that our staff could participate in,” Abrahams said.

She added, “The ‘new normal’ didn’t prevent us from reaching out to our regulators and other industry partners to thank them for their support during the year. All staff members are entered into a daily raffle to win prizes, from gift vouchers to trips abroad, with some prizes being doubled. Gift distribution just covered a wider geographic area this year, as we had a few more deliveries to make of gift vouchers, and other Christmas gifts, including ham and Christmas cake.”

Abrahams also pointed out that SVL has several promotions targeting their loyal customers.

stephanie.lyew@gleanerjm.coms