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Hey Friend!
Last night in the Millennial Manager Collective, we played a game called Meaningful or Cringe?! It's exactly what it sounds like--members were asked to decide if several typical workplace end-of-year rituals hit the mark or should be retired forever.
What struck me wasn’t how opinionated people were (though yes, there were plenty of strong takes). It was how consistently every response pointed back to the same underlying truth that I scream from the rooftops talk about all year:
Culture matters.
When there is a strong culture where expectations are clear, trust is real, and people feel genuinely connected to each other, end-of-year rituals can land as grounding, supportive, and even restorative.
But when culture is weak, toxic, or nonexistent? Those same rituals often feel deeply out of touch. Instead of creating meaning, they expose misalignment. What’s meant to signal care registers as performative. What’s intended as celebratory can feel minimizing or even insulting. I even heard a story last week about someone who quit their job after receiving a "we couldn't do this without you" email. It was the straw that broke the camel's back after a really hard year.
End-of-year traditions reveal the culture you've been building before December rolls around and, perhaps more importantly, how people perceive that culture. So, if you’re wondering how your people are really doing, pay attention to how they’re showing up at the holiday party, how they're engaging in the cookie competition, and how they accept (or don't accept) gratitude and recognition.
Of course, no end-of-year practice is inherently good or bad, and no end-of-year ritual will make a culture better on its own (no, not even if the swag is really cute). But in our discussion last night, we were able to pretty quickly define what makes things meaningful and what makes things cringe, and how to bridge the gap.
Rituals are more likely to be perceived as meaningful when:
- Employees feel bought in and included
- Actions are intentionally and thoughtfully planned
- Actions match reality (practically and emotionally)
- Events are truly inclusive for people of all abilities, lifestyles, and caregiving responsibilities
- Care shows up alongside mutual accountability
- They're not just happening once in December, and can be expected year-round
And things are cringey when they are:
- Symbolic or performative gestures
- Anchored in forced positivity or "culture cosplay"
- Actions that ignore power, timing, or trust gaps
- A seeming waste of time, energy, and money
- Out of touch with the messages received all year
- Non-consensual
If you’re leading people right now and want to move from cringe to meaningful in these last few weeks of 2025, I invite you to move away from asking, “What should we do to close out the year?” and move towards three more powerful questions:
- Why have we committed to the end-of-year plans we've already made? If the motive is about optics, obligation, checking a box, avoiding discomfort, or performance, please rethink your strategy.
- What does our existing culture make possible for people right now?
- What do our people really need to enter next year with clarity, possibility, and hope?
Your answers will tell you everything you need to know about what will land, and what won’t. And, just as importantly, what might need to change before any ritual, message, or gesture can be meaningful.
Curious about the list we discussed? Here are 10 end-of-year practices, alongside helpful dos, don'ts, and cultural requirements. We hope this helps guide your decisions in the last few weeks of the year!
#1 - End-of-Year Performance Reviews (Dec 15–31) |
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Do: Give reviews when they are thoughtfully and proactively planned for and expected; Use time to synthesize feedback people have already heard and express confidence in people's growth for the new year.
Don’t: Drop surprises, compress meaningful development into a rushed checkbox, send written feedback to be processed "at a later date," or put anyone on a PIP during this time.
Culture required: A real plan for fitting reviews in during busy seasons, ongoing feedback, psychological safety, and a belief that performance conversations are about growth. |
#2 - "Thank You for All You Do" or "We Couldn't Have Done it Without You" Emails |
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Do: Be specific about what you’re grateful for and why it mattered. Celebrate big and small wins. Share real stories and evidence. Reinforce the gratitude you've shared all year.
Don’t: Send generic appreciation that you expect to stand in for actual resources, repair, or compensation. And don't say things you don't mean or don't act on between January and November.
Culture required: A norm of regular recognition, not just gratitude as an annual event. Trustworthiness and trust in the person/people/organization sharing the gratitude. |
#3 - Employee Rewards or Recognition Ceremonies |
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Do: Recognize values-aligned performance, and visibly honor both seen and unseen contributions.
Don’t: Reward proximity, popularity, or optics. Spend a lot of time or money when you claim not to have time or money. Single people out when they don't want to be the center of attention.
Culture required: Transparent criteria, trust in leadership, and a shared understanding of what “good work” really is. |
#4 - Holiday Gifts (Swag, Gift Cards, Branded Anything) |
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Do: Choose items that feel thoughtful, optional, and appropriate to the moment. Give choices!
Don’t: Buy junk or clutter, or spend a ton of money when you've denied or are denying people professional development, promotions, or raises.
Culture required: A baseline sense that people are already valued. Swag should be a small bonus, not proof or a substitute for compensation. |
#5 - Year-End Team Reflections |
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Do: Invite honest reflection with choice, flexibility, and room for complexity. Keep it real. Don't bury the hard stuff. Give space for both celebration and grief. Reflect on process and outcomes.
Don’t: Force vulnerability, positivity, or sharing that hasn’t been earned. Forget context, point fingers, or cast blame.
Culture required: Psychological safety, real relationships, and teammates who can hear real feedback without defensiveness (and hopefully will act on it, too). |
#6 - Holiday Parties or Winter Gatherings |
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Do: Make them optional, inclusive, and responsive to different energy levels, neurodiversities, caregiving responsibilities, abilities, and identities. Make sure that nobody has the upper hand.
Don’t: Require cheer, alcohol-centered bonding, or emotional labor from people who are spent. Expect people to get along or want to be together if they haven't collaborated all year or if there's no trust.
Culture required: Respect for boundaries and multiple ways of belonging. Trust. Community. A commitment to equity and inclusion. |
#7 - End-of-Year Social Media Shoutouts Tagging Employees |
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Do: Ask permission and spotlight people in ways that align with their visibility preferences.
Don’t: Perform culture externally that doesn’t match the internal experience or what people are hearing about themselves.
Culture required: Consent, trust, and consistency between internal and external narratives. |
#8 - Full-Organization Time Off (No Exceptions) |
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Do: Ensure real coverage plans. Make sure that everyone, including leaders, models rest and actually takes the time off.
Don’t: Declare shutdowns that quietly rely on “a few people still handling things.” Don't surprise people with days off; just give it to them!
Culture required: Operational planning, SOS protocols, role clarity, and norms that protect people's time off (for real). |
#9 - Workplace Games, Themes, or Forced Fun/Joy |
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Do: Offer lightness and celebration as an option (amongst other options)
Don’t: Use fun to bypass burnout, grief, or unresolved tension.
Culture required: Emotional intelligence, trust, and a culture that makes silliness and vulnerability safe. |
#10 - Leadership Apologies, Repair, or Healing Attempts |
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Do: Name harm clearly, take responsibility, and pair any apology with changed behavior or commitments for the new year.
Don’t: Rush closure, demand forgiveness, or use “healing language” without accountability. If you say it, mean it.
Culture required: Trust, humility, and systems that support follow-through and accountability. |
To wrap this up, I want you to know that you don’t have to get everything “right” at the end of the year to be a good leader, and if you are already committed to any of the "don'ts" on the list, you don't have to reset completely. You've got other things to do.
My intention with this message is for folks to be just a little more honest, aware, responsive, and willing to align actions with the culture they're actually participating in rather than the one they wish they had.
If your culture isn't where you want it to be yet, this is a valuable opportunity to make some quick notes on how you want to create the social, emotional, and spiritual conditions for your humans to thrive in 2026.
Not sure where to start? This is exactly what Reloveution does, and we'd love to partner with you to fill your workplace/team with as much meaning and as little cringiness as possible!
May your next few weeks be warm and purposeful!
With gratitude,
Marissa
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