How businesses can celebrate the festivities while employees work from home

The bright festive season of Diwali and Navratri is around the corner. Both these festivals represent the victory of light over darkness. So, in these tough times of the coronavirus pandemic, give your work from home employees the hope of light to revive their spirits and to add a spring to their work ethos. Just like the flame of a lamp that points upwards, Diwali is the time to look up and work to a new beginning and prosperity.

Here are a few ways to ensure that the spirit of Diwali and Navratri is embedded in your employees and that their work sparkles through the festive season.

Organize a virtual celebration

Just because your staff is not physically together, does not mean that you cannot plan a festival and celebrate it together. Get your team together for a virtual celebration where the team members can dress in their traditional best and can compete for the prize of the best-dressed male and female. This activity will encourage employees to be a part of this celebration. There can be a bunch of other engagement activities planned like singing, virtual games like dumb charades, Pictionary, Trivia, antakshari, etc.

You can also arrange “Who Am I” games around the theme of Diwali and Navratri. This will not only test the knowledge of the employees about these festivals, but will also bring in a competitive mood and they will read about these festivals to gain an upper hand during the games. 

Employees can also play “What’s On My Desk?” where they would be asked to submit a picture of an item on their work from home work desk or any other belonging or any image on their mobile wallpaper. This can be uploaded on the organisation’s cloud drive. Then employees can start guessing the owners of those photos. The winner is the one with the most correct guesses.  Such games allow employees to know each other better and help in team bonding.

To bring out the essence of Navratri, you can have a photo contest for each of the nine days of Navratri. Develop a theme where each day will have a special colour code and people can dress up as per the theme and share their pictures. At the end of the nine days, you can select one winner who dressed perfectly to the tune of the theme.
This getting together and celebrating these festivals together will liven up the spirits of your employees, giving them a much-needed break from work related stress.

Decorate Workstations

You can also inform employees well in advance to decorate their workstations at home. Using video conferencing, everyone can view each others’ workstations. You can arrange a prize for the best-decorated work from home space. Such activities will encourage your employees to have a pleasant, colorful and well-organized workspace. Remember that clean, organized and decorated workspaces create a better work environment and enhances productivity.

Since it is the festive season of Diwali and Navratri, a Rangoli contest would perfectly embody the spirit of these festivals. Here, your employees can create Rrangoli at home and share pictures of themselves along with the Rangoli they have created. A prize for the most creative rangoli design can be announced. 

Gift your Employees

Treating employees well and strengthening the bond with them is important to a company’s success. Diwali is the best time to show your gratitude towards your employees about how much they mean to the organization. Gifts are a tangible way to exhibit your appreciation, and putting some thought into choosing the gifts will make it clear to the employees that they matter to you. Buy gifts that are useful and unique. You can even give your employees the chance to choose from two or three options to identify a gift that would be useful and helpful to them.

Given that companies face budgetary constraints, it can be challenging to find gifts that show the appreciation but are also cost-effective. To solve these problems, Amazon Business has curated a selection of products across various categories. The Corporate Gifting Store systematized by Amazon Business will make your task of gift selection easier.

Exchange Sweets and Delicacies

Sweets are synonymous with festivals like Diwali and Navratri. No Indian festival celebration is complete without sweets. So why not continue with that tradition, even if it’s a virtual celebration. Plan the festival celebrations in advance and encourage your employees to prepare delicacies and sweets at their home and exchange it among a group of team members through delivery agents. The joy of preparing for one’s team and impressing them will bring out the best in each employee. This act of bonding will strengthen the relationship between team members and benefit the company in the long run.

Imbibe the spirit of Diwali and spread it among your employees with the hope of a better future for them and your organization.

To buy gifts from the Corporate Gifting Store, you will need to be an Amazon Business registered customer. Click here to create your Amazon Business account.