“Just a Welcome Party” May Backfire as Even Non Alcohol Events Fail to Stop Surprising Early Resignations Among Young Workers

A toast that sounds cheerful—but the glasses contain barley tea, and one hour later everyone says good work today and goes home. Non-alcoholic, short welcome parties like this are becoming more common.

The format has changed. However, if there is no clear meaning behind why we hold a welcome party, then it is nothing more than a routine event. Would it surprise you to hear that this accumulation can lead to early resignation among new employees, or quiet quitting, where people continue working without speaking their true thoughts?

We spoke with Ryoisuke Ishii, a leading researcher in psychological safety, about the role of welcome parties and the essence of building organizations.

Alcohol-dependent welcome parties are reaching their limits

Spring is the season for welcome parties. In recent years, non-alcoholic welcome parties and short gatherings held right after work have been spreading, alongside traditional formats. In some cases, companies have stopped holding welcome parties altogether. Ishii describes this situation not as good or bad, but as simply one change in society, and offers the following view:

“Drinking parties with alcohol were, in a sense, outsourcing the design of the environment to alcohol. Once people drank, tension would ease, and even without the host doing much, the atmosphere would naturally become lively. But now, that magic is becoming harder to rely on in reality.”

However, Ishii also notes that whether alcohol itself truly has the power to create new relationships is another question.

“I think alcohol amplifies existing human relationships. People who already get along well talk more and deepen their bonds. But people who are already distant tend to sit far apart even at the same table. So it’s not necessarily true that alcohol dramatically changes relationships.”

He also points out that alcohol-based gatherings carry risks that are difficult to manage:

“When someone who is not strong with alcohol becomes intoxicated and says or does something inappropriate, the question is how much others can intervene. In reality, many people have experienced unpleasant situations such as unsolicited lectures, complaints, or arguments. In other words, drinking parties are not as universally effective as people tend to believe.”

Why the time-efficiency generation avoids drinking parties

Behind the weakening magic of alcohol is not so much a change in young people’s values, but rather a change in the environment. Ishii points out that the fundamental cause is the explosive increase in available choices.

“I think concepts like cost-performance and time-performance are somewhat sad ways of thinking, but they are prioritized because compared to 20 years ago, the number of choices has increased dramatically. When you go home, there are countless options available on your smartphone—games, videos, and more—that you can enjoy alone with little cost or effort.

When you weigh those options against spending time and money to meet coworkers, you need a clear reason or value in order to choose the latter.”

There was a time when people would go to drinking parties simply because there was nothing else to do. But today, it is an era where there are countless reasons not to go.

“In such times, simply saying, ‘We’re having a welcome party, so please come,’ is not enough to convey its appeal. First, you need to clearly explain what meaning the gathering has and why it is worth participating in.”

And Ishii says this change is not limited to drinking parties.

“The same applies to work instructions. In the past, work could be justified simply by saying, ‘Because the boss said so.’ But now it is important to explain why something is being done and what will improve as a result. It’s not just about handing over tasks, but about sharing meaning as well.”

The true nature of the terrifying surprise resignation

The changes in the way welcome parties are held are directly connected to broader changes in organizational communication. So what awaits organizations that continue holding somewhat routine welcome parties without noticing these changes?

“It’s possible that people who join the company can’t adjust to the workplace, can’t fully demonstrate their abilities, and end up leaving before they can take root in the organization—such disappointing outcomes can happen.”

The problem is not the welcome party itself. The issue is that the meaning of holding a welcome party is not being considered.

“A welcome party is just one part of the overall effort to receive new employees. It only functions properly when there is a complete design for helping that person become familiar with the workplace and start performing quickly. It should not end with ‘we held a welcome party, so we’re done.’”

In many companies, welcome parties continue out of inertia—simply because we’ve always done it. As a result, what was originally just a means has, before anyone realizes it, become the purpose itself.

Such unconscious inertia gradually erodes workplace communication itself.

One manifestation of this, Ishii suggests, is the rapid increase in resignation-agency services that became a social issue last year.

“When problems arise but cannot be pointed out, when speaking honestly makes you unwelcome, and when only superficial communication is possible—if such conditions continue, people begin to feel nothing I say matters in this company.”

In such workplaces, employees may be unable even to express their intention to resign, and one day a resignation letter suddenly arrives. This is the unexpected surprise resignation.

The key to solving these issues is what Ishii has long studied: psychological safety. This does not simply mean a friendly workplace, but a state in which people within an organization can say what needs to be said and speak honestly, and where they can communicate candidly in order to achieve results.

In organizations working to establish this psychological safety, a completely different scene emerges.

“Rather than suddenly submitting a resignation, in many cases people first come for consultation. From there, discussions can take place to seek constructive solutions such as adjusting workloads or transferring departments, making surprise resignations less likely to occur.”

The question that dramatically changes welcome parties

So how can a welcome party be turned into a meaningful space?

“What’s important is preparing an interesting question that generates communication during the event. A simple self-introduction with name, age, and previous job does not really help people get to know each other.

However, if you ask something like, ‘What is the reason you chose this job that you’ve never told anyone before?’ people will naturally start thinking deeply. Also, creating a setting where people exchange proud stories about themselves is effective. It can feel awkward to boast on your own, but if the setting encourages it, people can speak comfortably.”

Ishii also emphasizes that it is important for existing members to answer the same questions. By doing so, not only is the new employee welcomed, but mutual understanding among existing members can also be deepened at the same time.

“A workshop like form groups of 3–4 people and find at least three things everyone has in common is also recommended. Even among people who have worked together for years, unexpected commonalities may emerge, sometimes surprising even the existing members of the team.”

Making a welcome party meaningful is not difficult. With just one question, the atmosphere can completely change.

A reverse welcome party initiated by junior employees

Up to this point, we have discussed the importance of creating the space from the organizer’s side. So how should younger employees who are being welcomed approach this?

“To be honest, there are also drinking gatherings where the space itself isn’t really designed, so it’s hard to say that you must always participate,” Ishii says with a wry smile.

So what should you do if you are invited to a welcome party that doesn’t feel meaningful? Ishii proposes an unexpected reversal of perspective.

“You could boldly ask, ‘Is there anything I can help with?’ In other words, you move from being a participant to being someone who helps design the space. By doing so, it may become a more meaningful experience for yourself as well.”

He also says that you don’t have to stick to the format of a welcome party.

“Even just going out to lunch one-on-one with each team member can make work much easier. Rather than setting up a large-scale welcome party, building one-on-one relationships is actually more important.”

Even if the form of the welcome party changes, the effort to understand one another does not change. Whether the gathering is alcohol-free or not is far less important than whether it has meaning.

▼ Ishii Ryosuke. Representative Director of Ishii Ryosuke. After graduating from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Engineering, he earned an MBA from the National University of Singapore. As a researcher and data scientist, he has studied the performance of organizations, teams, and individuals, and developed measurement scales and organizational diagnostic surveys for psychological safety. His 2020 book How to Create Psychological Safety won the “Management Category Award” in the Business Book Grand Prix 2021. He is known as a leading authority on psychological safety research in Japan.

■ To purchase Ishii Ryosuke’s book How to Create Psychological Safety, click here ZENTech