Ask The Elves

timnicolle7
Dec 15, 2025
3 min read

Updated: Dec 22, 2025

Once upon a prime December, Santa faced a logistical truth: there was simply no-ho-ho way he could get everything ready for Christmas on his own.

The gift list was longer than Rudolph’s nose on a cold night, the sleigh supply chain was stretched thinner than tinsel.

The whole world wanted same-night delivery — with tracking.

So Santa did what any modern CEO in a red suit would do — he outsourced his operations to the elves.

Now, don’t get him wrong. Santa loves elves.

But there were many thousands of them, spread across different workshops, managed by Elf Managers, working for various Elf Suppliers, all the way from Lapland to Antarctica.

It was a full-blown North Pole value chain.

Very pre-scented with peppermint, but complex nonetheless.

And the elves were busy all year round — not just seasonal workers, but perma-frost professionals, operating in a highly seasonal, toy-based manufacturing environment.

Santa started to feel a little… claus-trophobic.

Santa’s big worry: Elf & Safety

Santa lay awake at night (well, napped anxiously) wondering:

Are the elves being fed properly, or just running on candy canes and hope?
Are they being paid fairly, or stuck on a toy-based bonus scheme with questionable vesting terms?
Are the Elf Bosses behaving, or are some managers quietly sliding onto the naughty list under “leadership concerns”?
And most importantly… what about Elf & Safety?

(because slipping on tinsel is no joke; that stuff is a hazard and one incident report away from a sleigh-stop).

To make matters frostier, Santa’s bankers at Snow Bank slid a very serious letter down the chimney:

“Dear Mr Claus, Please demonstrate that no elves are being harmed in the delivery of Christmas. Failure to do so will result in higher interest rates. Kind regards, The Ethical Team at Snow Bank”

Nothing chills Santa faster than variable-rate snow loans.

Santa’s Snowcial Audits

Now, Santa never left anything to chance. For many years, he relied on regular checks carried out by his snow-cial auditors — who spent a day each year in each Elf Supplier workshop, running through checklists, inspecting records, and enjoying a festive biscuit.

But Santa had been reading that audits don’t always catch everything. That issues can hide between visits. That real problems don’t always wait politely for audit season.

And Santa couldn’t take chances with something as important as Christmas — especially with CSDDD (the Christmas Santa Due Diligence Directive) coming into force shortly.

Christmas, after all, is a high-risk, high-volume, time-critical operation.

Why Not “Ask The Elves”?

That’s when Santa had a light-bulb moment (LED, energy-efficient, naturally).

Why not Ask The Elves?

Not ask about the elves. Not rely on second-hand reports. But ask the elves themselves.

Santa had heard of a platform called Ask The Workers. He thought, maybe they have a version for me? What about Ask The Elves?

Instead of waiting for annual elf-reviews or awkward town-hall meetings where everyone just nods, smiles, and jingles, Ask The Elves runs continuously — all year round, 24/7, snow matter what.

Elves simply download the Ask The Elves app from the Play Store or the App Store, authenticate themselves anonymously to their particular supplier workshop, and they’re good to go.

No forms. No fear. No need to raise a hand while the Elf Manager watches.

With Ask The Elves, any elf can:

Speak up authentically
Share how they’re treated day to day — even sleigh-to-sleigh
Flag issues before they turn into a full-blown ho-ho-hostile workplace

No scripts. No surveys once a year. No “we’ll raise this offline.”Just real elf voices, straight from the workshop floor.

And he can implement Ask The Elves within his existing Snowcial Audit budget - because Ask The Elves means he can reduce the scope and cost of those annual audits.

The results? Pure Christmas magic (with dashboards)

Suddenly, Santa had full visibility into elf operations across the world.

Problems were spotted before they snowballed
Elf Managers cleaned up their act faster than a workshop before inspection
Elves felt heard, valued, and properly elf-actualised

Santa could now confidently tell:

Children: “Your toys are made with love — and proper lunch breaks.”
Bankers: “No elves were harmed in the making of Christmas.”
The World: “This supply chain is 100% fair-trade, frost-certified, and ho-ho-wholesome.”

A Responsible Ending (with KPIs)

With Ask The Elves in place, Christmas wasn’t just magical — it was responsibly magical. The elves were happy. The bankers were calm. The risk team slept soundly.

And Santa?

Well… he finally slept like a log. A Yule log, obviously.

Because when you listen to your elves all year round, you don’t just deliver Christmas, you deliver transparency, trust, and continuous improvement.