Eddy’s HR Mavericks Encyclopedia
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Company Valentine's Day Party
Company parties can be a lot of fun. They can increase employee engagement, provide a break from the stresses of the workday, and contribute to your company culture. Want to put together a fun Valentine’s Day party for your employees? Read on for party ideas and other considerations.
What Is a Company Valentine’s Day Party?
A company Valentine’s Day party is an event you can host to engage your employees in an enjoyable way. It can be virtual or in person, but it should incorporate what is important to your organization. This party would usually take place in mid-February.
Why Is Hosting a Company Valentine’s Day Party Important?
Hosting a Valentine’s Day company party is a great way to build comradery among your employees and boost engagement in a fun way.
- Build engagement. Employee engagement is critical to your organization’s success. The more engaged your workforce, the more productive they are, which in turn leads to greater profits for the company and a strong organizational culture.
- Team building. Employees with close friendships at work tend to feel less stressed and more positive about work. Company parties and team-building events help to foster these relationships.
- Company culture. Creating opportunities for company gatherings can contribute to your overall culture because employees will feel appreciated and motivated. A positive culture is a major factor in helping your business become an employer of choice.
- It’s fun! Company parties can create a safe environment for employees to de-stress and have fun to balance out the stress of work or their day-to-day lives.
Company Valentine’s Day Party Ideas
Valentine’s Day is about showing others you care about them, which creates a great opportunity for you, as their employer, to show some appreciation. Here are a few ideas to get you brainstorming.
Break Bread Together
Provide meals or host a potluck. Depending on the time of day, workspace, or scheduling needs, this could be a fully catered meal, snacks, sweet treats, breakfast, or serving platters with a spread of different options. If you choose this option, make sure there is plenty to go around and account for any dietary restrictions. If it’s a virtual party or you have a remote workforce, consider sending gift cards for a food delivery service, such as DoorDash or GrubHub, and meeting online to share the goodies.
Party With a Theme
Have a theme party! If you have employees that love to get involved and make the most of an event, this can be a lot of fun. Consider choosing a fun color scheme, a tea party, or a romantic movie theme. You can decorate the office to fit the theme with lights, themed decorations, signs, balloons, etc.
Valentines
Kick it old school and exchange valentines or other treats. This is a great opportunity to handwrite appreciation notes to each employee as well as give gift cards, candy, flowers, or chocolate-covered fruit.
Valentines Box Competition
Along similar lines, you might decide to hold a Valentine’s Day box competition. Remember how back in grade school you decorated Valentine’s Day boxes for your classmates to put valentines in? Well, you can do the same thing at your company, offering cash prizes (or other prizes) for the best boxes! Here’s what you'll do:
- Get the word out. Give your employees at least a week or two to start prepping their Valentine’s Day boxes. There are two things you need to do in order to get people to actually participate. First, tell everybody what the prizes are. Second, send pictures of previous years boxes for ideas and motivation.
- Prepare a gift for each employee. This can be simple! Pinterest has millions of ideas if you’re looking for something creative. While employees can choose to give valentines to each other, they’ll appreciate getting something from the company as well.
- Set up the competition. On Valentine's Day, put all the boxes on a table in a central location of your office so people can vote on their favorites throughout the day. Choose a time frame for people to vote. For example, you could begin voting at lunchtime and end voting around 3:00 pm to announce the winners.
- Tally votes and announce winners. Let each employee choose their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices, tally up the scores and send a picture of the winners with their boxes to everyone in the company.
Show Love With Self-Care
Show that you care by encouraging employee self-care. You could bring in a meditation or yoga instructor, provide gift cards to a local massage therapy business or studio, or bring in a professional to do chair massages for your employees. For a remote workforce, you can send gift cards or offer virtual classes or events. There are online businesses who specialize in providing fun in-person or virtual events; search for online event planning businesses.
Tips for Hosting an Outstanding Company Valentine’s Day Party
There are many fun things you can offer at a company gathering, and we've named a few below. Perhaps the biggest tip is to prepare. Know what you want to accomplish with this event, and give it the attention and care you would for any party you would host at home.
Swag
Give out company swag! Employees love receiving company swag like branded mugs or cups, mousepads, shirts, pens, etc.
Games
Play games! There are a lot of fun party games and icebreakers that can be found online. Some websites will even host virtual games or other themed parties for a remote workforce. You should feel free to get creative here. You could play simple games, like guessing how many Hershey Kisses are in a jar; play themed games, like Valentine’s trivia or bingo; host a cakewalk; let employees choose a local charity for the company to give to; have a photo “booth” area with props and a backdrop or come up with your own way to help people interact and enjoy each other.
Break Time
Give employees a break. If a full-on party isn’t realistic, consider hosting a happy hour or social hour to give employees the opportunity to step away from their day-to-day work. You can serve snacks, tea, hot cocoa, or another treat.
Give Genuine Appreciation
There is never a bad time to remind your employees how valuable they are and how important they are to the success of your organization. You could give handwritten notes of appreciation and/or create an appreciation board for all employees to see and contribute to. Employees should leave the party feeling positive and re-energized.
Topics
Colleen E. Frislid, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
Colleen manages a team of HR consultants that work with a variety of industries, specializing in the fields of human resources, strategic planning, and human capital management. Colleen applies expert knowledge, industry experience, and relentless energy to solving companies’ issues. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management as well as women in leadership groups. She is PHR, SPHR, and SHRM-SCP certified. She has an awesome pet cat, Attila and, when she's not working she loves to travel, enjoy the great outdoors, and volunteer with different local charities.
Frequently asked questions
Other Related Terms
Eddy’s HR Mavericks Encyclopedia
Company Valentine's Day Party
Company parties can be a lot of fun. They can increase employee engagement, provide a break from the stresses of the workday, and contribute to your company culture. Want to put together a fun Valentine’s Day party for your employees? Read on for party ideas and other considerations.
What Is a Company Valentine’s Day Party?
A company Valentine’s Day party is an event you can host to engage your employees in an enjoyable way. It can be virtual or in person, but it should incorporate what is important to your organization. This party would usually take place in mid-February.
Why Is Hosting a Company Valentine’s Day Party Important?
Hosting a Valentine’s Day company party is a great way to build comradery among your employees and boost engagement in a fun way.
- Build engagement. Employee engagement is critical to your organization’s success. The more engaged your workforce, the more productive they are, which in turn leads to greater profits for the company and a strong organizational culture.
- Team building. Employees with close friendships at work tend to feel less stressed and more positive about work. Company parties and team-building events help to foster these relationships.
- Company culture. Creating opportunities for company gatherings can contribute to your overall culture because employees will feel appreciated and motivated. A positive culture is a major factor in helping your business become an employer of choice.
- It’s fun! Company parties can create a safe environment for employees to de-stress and have fun to balance out the stress of work or their day-to-day lives.
Company Valentine’s Day Party Ideas
Valentine’s Day is about showing others you care about them, which creates a great opportunity for you, as their employer, to show some appreciation. Here are a few ideas to get you brainstorming.
Break Bread Together
Provide meals or host a potluck. Depending on the time of day, workspace, or scheduling needs, this could be a fully catered meal, snacks, sweet treats, breakfast, or serving platters with a spread of different options. If you choose this option, make sure there is plenty to go around and account for any dietary restrictions. If it’s a virtual party or you have a remote workforce, consider sending gift cards for a food delivery service, such as DoorDash or GrubHub, and meeting online to share the goodies.
Party With a Theme
Have a theme party! If you have employees that love to get involved and make the most of an event, this can be a lot of fun. Consider choosing a fun color scheme, a tea party, or a romantic movie theme. You can decorate the office to fit the theme with lights, themed decorations, signs, balloons, etc.
Valentines
Kick it old school and exchange valentines or other treats. This is a great opportunity to handwrite appreciation notes to each employee as well as give gift cards, candy, flowers, or chocolate-covered fruit.
Valentines Box Competition
Along similar lines, you might decide to hold a Valentine’s Day box competition. Remember how back in grade school you decorated Valentine’s Day boxes for your classmates to put valentines in? Well, you can do the same thing at your company, offering cash prizes (or other prizes) for the best boxes! Here’s what you'll do:
- Get the word out. Give your employees at least a week or two to start prepping their Valentine’s Day boxes. There are two things you need to do in order to get people to actually participate. First, tell everybody what the prizes are. Second, send pictures of previous years boxes for ideas and motivation.
- Prepare a gift for each employee. This can be simple! Pinterest has millions of ideas if you’re looking for something creative. While employees can choose to give valentines to each other, they’ll appreciate getting something from the company as well.
- Set up the competition. On Valentine's Day, put all the boxes on a table in a central location of your office so people can vote on their favorites throughout the day. Choose a time frame for people to vote. For example, you could begin voting at lunchtime and end voting around 3:00 pm to announce the winners.
- Tally votes and announce winners. Let each employee choose their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices, tally up the scores and send a picture of the winners with their boxes to everyone in the company.
Show Love With Self-Care
Show that you care by encouraging employee self-care. You could bring in a meditation or yoga instructor, provide gift cards to a local massage therapy business or studio, or bring in a professional to do chair massages for your employees. For a remote workforce, you can send gift cards or offer virtual classes or events. There are online businesses who specialize in providing fun in-person or virtual events; search for online event planning businesses.
Tips for Hosting an Outstanding Company Valentine’s Day Party
There are many fun things you can offer at a company gathering, and we've named a few below. Perhaps the biggest tip is to prepare. Know what you want to accomplish with this event, and give it the attention and care you would for any party you would host at home.
Swag
Give out company swag! Employees love receiving company swag like branded mugs or cups, mousepads, shirts, pens, etc.
Games
Play games! There are a lot of fun party games and icebreakers that can be found online. Some websites will even host virtual games or other themed parties for a remote workforce. You should feel free to get creative here. You could play simple games, like guessing how many Hershey Kisses are in a jar; play themed games, like Valentine’s trivia or bingo; host a cakewalk; let employees choose a local charity for the company to give to; have a photo “booth” area with props and a backdrop or come up with your own way to help people interact and enjoy each other.
Break Time
Give employees a break. If a full-on party isn’t realistic, consider hosting a happy hour or social hour to give employees the opportunity to step away from their day-to-day work. You can serve snacks, tea, hot cocoa, or another treat.
Give Genuine Appreciation
There is never a bad time to remind your employees how valuable they are and how important they are to the success of your organization. You could give handwritten notes of appreciation and/or create an appreciation board for all employees to see and contribute to. Employees should leave the party feeling positive and re-energized.
Topics
Colleen E. Frislid, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
Colleen manages a team of HR consultants that work with a variety of industries, specializing in the fields of human resources, strategic planning, and human capital management. Colleen applies expert knowledge, industry experience, and relentless energy to solving companies’ issues. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management as well as women in leadership groups. She is PHR, SPHR, and SHRM-SCP certified. She has an awesome pet cat, Attila and, when she's not working she loves to travel, enjoy the great outdoors, and volunteer with different local charities.
Frequently asked questions
Other Related Terms
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