Ryan Golden: Lately I’ve noticed an uptick in my hours per day spent hurriedly scrolling through my Amazon app, which statistically can only mean one thing: it’s holiday season!

Kathryn Moody: It’s true: The season of varying cheer (depends on who you ask) and lowered productivity has finally arrived. Employers know this is the time of year to anticipate distractions and downtime as employees begin to take leave. And many employers learned it may be best to lean into the season, rather than try to ignore it — and so, the annual holiday party persists.

Ryan Golden: Love it or hate it, the institution of the holiday party draws some heated responses. You can see it in just a sample of a Facebook comment section for one of our recent articles on the subject:

Kathryn Moody: But we know you don’t listen to the haters. As usual, we have some buzzkill tips for you going into the season.

First of all, keep it absolutely voluntary — even a hint of “oh, but you really ought to go” from a boss can make an employee feel like they have to participate in an event that many may not actually enjoy. If it’s made mandatory, employers could face wage-and-hour concerns (as in you would have to pay your people for being there). Your employees would probably have extremely mixed feelings about that.

Ryan Golden: If you do decide to hold your event in the office, ensure the festivities stay within a common space (perhaps the office kitchen), and far away from rooms with, I dunno, doors that lock from the inside.

Kathryn Moody: The recent spate of sexual harassment stories should make every employer think twice about their policies, especially any that could enable such harassment. Holiday parties with alcohol could increase risk by a considerable percentage, even at off-site locations, which may explain why many companies have opted not to hold a party at all.

That move may not solve any current institutional problems at hand, but it could prevent any that you are tracking from becoming worse.

Ryan Golden: Besides, who says alcohol needs to be involved anyway? Isn’t Secret Santa supposed to be a PG activity? And eggnog is overrated. *Braces for incoming hate mail.*

But be careful about gift guidelines. The HR world is rife with examples of workers who took a joke too far. Specify dollar limits (i.e. under $20) and decide ahead of time whether you’re having a traditional format or a so-called “yankee swap.”

One thing to add to your party (besides a delicious German chocolate pie) is a slice of appreciation. Have leadership recognize employees’ many efforts in the past year to meet company goals and objectives. We do this with a photo slideshow at our party, but even a personal thank-you note from a manager can go a long way.

Kathryn Moody: And at the end of the day, employee appreciation should go beyond “rote requirements” anyway. If a holiday party no longer feels like it’s jiving with your company culture, employers can try other fun, culturally aligned activities that feel in spirit with the season, like volunteer opportunities or allowing employees to take off the holidays they actually observe.

And, if all else fails, you do have one option: holiday money bonuses. Turns out, many employees would prefer those anyway.