While you can debate all you want about whether 1988’s Die Hard is a Christmas movie (it is – don’t fight us on this point), you can’t disagree with the fact that the movie depicts one of the all-time most memorable office holiday parties in cinematic history.
A band of thieves posing as terrorists crash the Christmas Eve party on the 30th floor of Los Angeles’ new Nakatomi Plaza to rob millions in negotiable bearer bonds, only to be thwarted by party guest and New York City cop John McClain (played by a very young Bruce Willis).
Besides being eminently re-watchable, the movie also provides valuable instruction on how to throw a proper office holiday party.
The folks at the Nakatomi Corporation did some things right – and some things wrong – when it comes to hosting annual holiday festivities. If you learn from their example this year, you’ll enjoy the holidays knowing that your office party won’t lead to any human resources disasters or lawsuits.
“Can I Get You Anything? Food? Cake? Some Watered-Down Champagne?”
Any discussion of office holiday parties has to start with a discussion about alcohol – the cause of many an HR headache. The alcohol was certainly flowing at the Nakatomi party: the moment McClain stepped into the office, a roving bartender offered him a glass of mystery punch. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with having alcohol available at a holiday party, there are some established best practices when you throw adult beverages into the mix.
First, let’s look at two of the things that Nakatomi did that you should emulate.
- Number one: they hired professional bartenders to serve the alcohol, which helps avoid a situation where one of your own employees is serving drinks. Professional bartenders are trained to spot attendees who have had more than their fair share and need to be cut off, and they can also limit your own company’s liability.
- Number two: the company offered a spread of food to go along with the liquor, which helps slow down the processing of alcohol in the body and can help minimize its undesirable side effects. Plus, even the Scroogiest of people love a good holiday treat: even Hans Gruber, the leader of the gang of criminals, snacks on some of the food during the heist.
But there is a long list of things that Nakatomi could have done to handle its liquor better, so to speak. We have no idea if they offered non-alcoholic alternatives to the guests. In fact, manager Holly Gennaro encourages her very-pregnant assistant Ginny to have some champagne, which is one of the more cringe-worthy moments of the movie.
They also serve a mystery punch to their guests, which (like spiked eggnog) is never a good idea. If your guests don’t know what they’re drinking or how much alcohol they are consuming, they are more likely to become inebriated. Along those lines, shots are a bad choice nearly 100% of the time.
Another problem: the liquor flows freely with no oversight or limitations. In contrast, you might consider establishing a drink ticket system so that your guests are limited in their alcohol consumption, are less likely to become drunk, and more likely to leave the party with their dignity fully intact.
Moreover, you should ask a few managers to forego drinking for the night. They can spot problems before they get out of hand, and hang out near the exit doors to prevent people from driving home if they walk out of the party more lit than the holiday tree.
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Rich Meneghello is probably plotting something as you’re reading this. As the first Chief Content Officer in the firm’s history, Rich focuses much of his time ensuring that all the material posted to the firm’s website is timely, insightful, and of practical use by employers. By working hand in hand with firm leadership and our practice groups and industry teams, he ensures that Fisher Phillips meets the needs of our clients each and every day by publishing over 500 legal insights each year.
