Year End Functions

Ours was last week Friday.
What can I say, I was bored. Bored out of my mind. I managed to leave early, and still stop by the office and hand in all the gifts given in accordance with the anti-bribery policy at work.

What a bunch of miserable people and I am rather glad I did go because alcohol is a great truth serum.
I got to hear things I have been asking about for months. Also managed to piece together how much I have been lied to and how wide the gatekeeping is.

Food was limited to one specific menu, in other words, you could either have a burger, or a fish and chips, and a couple of other things. I must say, for a company with a turnover approaching that of MultiChoice, that sure was the last of the big spenders.

First they got tipsy, then got a bit happier. The "starters" came out, consisting of a cheese board, which didn't last 1m 30s because whomever thought of that was a moron. Oh wait.. I did say they were cheapskate.

Then as the alcohol did its thing I heard that most of the people are unhappy, a lot feel trapped as they can't find work anywhere else, and those that can, are waiting for their December leave then they will be leaving the company, or so they say.

They then became p03s dronk and began to brag about how long they've been with the CEO, and how they started with him in his garage, so clearly I work with a lot of meerkatte, cock-suckers and asskissers. Oh and many who have only been there a year have completely downed the kool-aid, eaten the jug and all the tumblers, the tray, and the table.

What a total bunch of shyte.
Did you have fun?
 
Ours was on Wednesday and they flew in loads of people from all over the world so it’s nice to connect with people you’ve worked with virtually for ages and just hang out.

As it’s an annual update thing and not just a party it was a sit down presentation for the morning into early afternoon , which wasn’t death by slideshow and paced very well with a look back on the year and achievements and fails and then a look forward at 2025 and what’s coming in a very transparent manner which motivates everyone and gets the whole team genuinely excited.

Our execs are pretty good at having a laugh and taking the piss with themselves or each other which goes a long way to making them real personable and approachable people who aren’t just in a crystal tower somewhere out of touch.

Lunch was a popup shop kind of setup so you could choose whatever you wanted to eat from any which stall so lots of choices for everyone.

Afternoon was the usual social activities in teams kind of stuff, which I always hate up front but end up enjoying if you get a lekker mix of people together and end up being quite competitive.

And then of course there was the actual end year social after that which is beers/wine/sletsap and a buffet of food and dessert and ad hoc beer pong late into the night.

Company provides transport to and from the venue for those who want it as well so there’s no concern of people getting shitfaced and doing something stupid.

And of course some swag.

It always works as a great reset after a hard year and motivation for the year ahead.

In my view if you don’t want to partake in your end of your function the problem is either you…or your company’s culture is completely and entirely broken.
 
So, I currently contract as a consultant for a large financial organization.

I was asked last Friday, via IM, if I would like to attend a "pizza day" at a local venue, today. Zero context. I had to pry for more info'.

When I accepted the invite, I was added to a WhatsApp list for info' sharing about the day.

Yesterday we were notified about where to park and informed that we would need to pay a R100 entrance fee.

What the actual @#$%?

I queried this, with the answer that a big event earlier in the year (presumably prior to me joining) had had a substantial cost attached to it, thus one of the executives had agreed to sponsor pizzas and soft drinks for those that would like to attend today's function.

I'm paying to attend my client's year-end function, in a park, essentially.

I think I may develop a contagious illness this morning...
 
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first time for me to see a year end function when I'm far away from the HQ

they planning on doing something for the 3 members down in the WC, but the big party is in HQ in JHB,
didnt score an invite, but next time I guess.

at least I got invited this time, previous years were COVID fears and no consideration even.
 
Doesn't look like we are having one, as we close on the 20th and nothing has come up. And it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

What we did have was a shisanyama at the office last week Friday and it wasn't too bad. Pap, rice, gravy, wors, chicken, chuck, salad and atchar. No alcohol, just basically a free lunch and cold drink.
 
I am taking my team for Drinks tommorow afternoon. I am sure I can claim it back but I am not going to even bother.

just some burgers, a few drinks and the 5 of us chilling before 2 of us go on a long leave during code freeze and the other 2 stay for support.
 
We still don't know our budget ,where we going and what day we going. Half our company has decided it's not worth it they buggering us around. Sounds like it was a ploy.

They only started to try plan around the 4th Dec. Everyone was booked and the ones that weren't were only available on days we all could attend and we couldn't make a choice where to go because we don't know how much is available.


I'm laughing ,been laughing since I was added to the group chat.still asked if we planning for next year's function or this year
 
So, I currently contract as a consultant for a large financial organization.

I was asked last Friday, via IM, if I would like to attend a "pizza day" at a local venue, today. Zero context. I had to pry for more info'.

When I accepted the invite, I was added to a WhatsApp list for info' sharing about the day.

Yesterday we were notified about where to park and informed that we would need to pay a R100 entrance fee.

What the actual @#$%?

I queried this, with the answer that a big event earlier in the year (presumably prior to me joining) had had a substantial cost attached to it, thus one of the executives had agreed to sponsor pizzas and soft drinks for those that would like to attend today's function.

I'm paying to attend my client's year-end function, in a park, essentially.

I think I may develop a contagious illness this morning...

ad7300b9-a255-4c39-bb89-97d9c9dc17da_544x403 - Copy.jpg
 
Ours was last week Friday.
What can I say, I was bored. Bored out of my mind. I managed to leave early, and still stop by the office and hand in all the gifts given in accordance with the anti-bribery policy at work.

What a bunch of miserable people and I am rather glad I did go because alcohol is a great truth serum.
I got to hear things I have been asking about for months. Also managed to piece together how much I have been lied to and how wide the gatekeeping is.

Food was limited to one specific menu, in other words, you could either have a burger, or a fish and chips, and a couple of other things. I must say, for a company with a turnover approaching that of MultiChoice, that sure was the last of the big spenders.

First they got tipsy, then got a bit happier. The "starters" came out, consisting of a cheese board, which didn't last 1m 30s because whomever thought of that was a moron. Oh wait.. I did say they were cheapskate.

Then as the alcohol did its thing I heard that most of the people are unhappy, a lot feel trapped as they can't find work anywhere else, and those that can, are waiting for their December leave then they will be leaving the company, or so they say.

They then became p03s dronk and began to brag about how long they've been with the CEO, and how they started with him in his garage, so clearly I work with a lot of meerkatte, cock-suckers and asskissers. Oh and many who have only been there a year have completely downed the kool-aid, eaten the jug and all the tumblers, the tray, and the table.

What a total bunch of shyte.

Yeah, it does sound rather boring and cheapskate. Avoided ours this year, happy to sacrifice a day's leave, and still don't regret it.

Might allocate a day's leave each year to November/December, and take it instead of attend the year end function.
 
WTF is Management's obsession with `pizza parties`, and that they think it actually boosts morale.

Thats often the compromise after the manager fought for some decent budget to do something fun and then got told that's all you get.

In my younger days getting a voucher or a slice of pizza often felt like a slap in the face but I've learned that some of those managers really had to put up a fight just to manage a little something for me.

The further up you go the more you realise its the exception for organisations to go the extra mile as boards, shareholders etc exert continuous pressure to save every operational cent. The structures just aren't conducive to thinking about the person doing the graft day in day out.
 
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