Although Halloween has passed, there are some managerial takeaways from the colorful costumes the holiday brings—namely that employees should be encouraged to express themselves in the workplace. Across the country, fewer than half of employees said this year they were allowed to come in costume to work, which might be a mistake in workplaces that value employee engagement. Gary Beckstrand, vice president at O.C. Tanner, an employee recognition and workplace culture company, says employers create an us-against-them mentality when refusing to allow employees to participate in fun holidays. “Halloween is a great opportunity to increase engagement and well-being among teams,” Beckstrand says. “But it’s less about the fact that people are dressing up or going to an office party, and more about the byproducts of allowing employees to do those types of things.” He adds that when employees are encouraged to dress up or decorate their personal spaces, it engenders goodwill and facilitates relationships between team members by building camaraderie. “Being able to be social at work is an incredibly important component of well-being,” Beckstrand says.” Additionally, you are building trust with your employees by showing them that they have the agency to be creative and have fun around this time of year.”