Halloween! Awwh. It is for the kids, so let’s take kids to the office and celebrate it at work.

This is the generally tendency that I noticed or heard from a few employees recently.

Don’t you think going back to that childhood fantasy is fun and refreshing at times? Especially when you are looking for some energy booster in the competitive work world? That sounds quiet exciting to me.

But as per Glass door’s survey only 52% of employees will plan to attend or participate in their company’s event. And only about one in ten (11%) are likely to wear a costume to work. I don’t understand what is stopping you to get involved and enjoying the moment. But you know what; People around you are having fun.

Here are a few snaps of corporate America celebrating Halloween

I guess one reason why people hesitate to wear a costume to their office’s Halloween celebrations could be the embarrassment or fear that HR/Managers might think that you have an inappropriate costume. For some it may be due to the nature of their work (meeting with customers/clients). And for others it could be because their company’s culture does not encourage a friendly environment.

However here are a few things that HR can do to increase the participation in your celebrations.

Communicate Explicitly: Help them select a suitable costume that is totally acceptable in your company by communicating a dress code policy for the Halloween costume. That sounds weird! We already have an official dress code policy in our handbook then why we should be drafting a Halloween dress code policy! Sometimes HR needs to mention this explicitly because what employees feel is appropriate can be inappropriate as per policy. And they might know this!

Model the participation: It is not just modeling the right behavior that should matter to leaders but sometimes they need to model their participation too. So get assurances from at least some of your leadership team that they will show up wearing a costume for the celebration. Give employees a hint that their leadership is going to be wearing a costume and check on what they have planned. Get those managers involved so that their team is involved too!

Here are some competitions that you can do to increase more participation. And make sure the award prize is really attractive too!

• Award for The most dreadful cubicle
• Award for Mr. Halloweener & Ms Halloweener
• Award for ‘The best Haunting Idea’
• Award for ‘The Hurricane Team’ (The team with maximum number of employees that wore a costume, along with a theme)
• Award for best carved pumpkin

And of course invite employee’s kids to lighten up the celebration and be sure to have some competition for them apart from the normal trick and treat.

Check out some ‘The Office’ Halloween costumes & Ideas. It is fun!

Photo Credit: Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Michaels