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‘Tis the season to be jolly…

December, the month to wrap everything up before you finish for Christmas, attend gatherings and parties and for us to deliver our final events of the year. We certainly all pack it into a month.

As well as the festivities, it’s also a time to reflect on what has taken place this year, what we accomplished and maybe what we didn’t achieve what we set out to do.

The LemonZest team has had another busy month delivering events, discovering new venues and meeting new people and trusted partners. The past few weeks have been a time to see how the hospitality industry has embraced the road bumps and had to adapt once more to accommodate changing needs and staffing venues to deliver exceptional service.

As a business leader, my thoughts are also focused on what lies in the year ahead. The economic challenges that are apparent will impact all businesses in many ways. I find December a good time to roll up my sleeves and channel my thoughts to how we continue to grow and support our client base in the year ahead.

Speaking to my network, it seems that investing in teamwork will be ever more important. The hospitality industry has worked hard to retain employees and invest in their development. Making your team feel valued and part of your plans will have additional importance.

This month there were two examples in the press of global businesses advising staff they would no longer be part of the future business. These two examples couldn’t have been more different in the messaging. One from Elon Musk at Twitter, a blunt email advising the employees they would no longer have access to systems and it was to be their last working day at the company and further details would be issued about their severance package. The other, Mark Zuckerberg, advised Meta employees of the difficulties facing the business and changes made to mitigate any further crisis and put the remaining workforce at some ease. The Zuckerberg example allowed employees access to email so farewells could be said. Now I am sure everyone affected in both examples must have been in shock, however the delivery of the message and management style used will have a lasting impact.

LZ has worked with many companies on events to bring teams together, set the scene for the future and show where each person adds value. We see events such as these being all the more important. Some events are grand affairs where delegates countrywide attend and participate. Other events are smaller more intimate affairs with an emphasis on team building. The important point I am making is that without our teams we are much less of a force to be reckoned with. Making each person’s role count and demonstrating how they add value to your strategy, bottom line and company culture is so important.

I hope when you have your moment of reflection this triggers thoughts about how to bring your ideas together and see that when we work together we are stronger.

For now, I just want to say thanks for being part of my network, reading, commenting and sharing the posts I’ve put out over this past year.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, take a well-earned break and spend time with your loved ones. I look forward to sharing more with you again in January.