A colleague asked me during our annual Holiday party: "What about ethics and dancing?" I found it to be an interesting question. What about ethics and corporate Holiday parties? Is there any connection? I think there is. Ethics very often is about values and boundaries.

Company Holiday parties are a tradition in America. According to an American Express survey, more than 86% of companies hold such parties every year.

What values are represented in company parties?

First and foremost a company party is a gift (an expensive one) from the employers to the staff. It is a way for employers to rewards employees for a job well done. However it is often considered by the employees to be an entitlement. Very few employees think or take the time to write an email to management simply to say "thank you." Gratitude is an important value that is sometimes sadly ignored.

Company parties also help develop a sense of belonging and the notion that we are all on the same team. The camaraderie experienced in a party could be considered as a democratization of the workplace.

It may be seen that boundaries are somehow blurred in the interaction between employer and employees at a party, like a temporary suspension of hierarchy. Boundaries are also in some way extended between employees themselves, particularly in dancing.

Yet those boundaries remain although a too heavy intake of alcohol may blur them even more! Rob Hard,an event manager and communication consultant indicated that in a recent survey, 15% of employers surveyed declared that inappropriate behavior at a company party have impacted an individual's career growth.

How can we recognize those boundaries and make sure we do not transgress them?

I think the notion of respect can guide us. We should make sure that whatever we do or say at a company party is not disrespectful in any way. Respect and self-respect is always a good guiding value both in our private and business life.

As the 19th Century English mathematician, astronomer and chemist John Herschel once said:
"Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue."