Maintaining employee productivity during the holiday season can
be challenging. Your business must continue to move forward
making it crucial to find ways to keep your employees engaged and
focused. Here are some tips to help maintain productivity
during the holiday season:
Create Goals
Setting goals is a great way to keep your employees on track
during what is almost always a very distracting time of year.
Consider meeting with each employee, team or department
to develop a list of priorities and goals for the next few
weeks. By maintaining high but achievable expectations,
everyone will be working to attain the set goals. Make sure that
the goals are clearly communicated both verbally and in writing
so employees can refer back to them as necessary.
Acknowledge Your Employees
When employees believe that they are playing an active role in
the progress and success of the company, they are more likely to
work to meet their goals and objectives for these final few weeks
of the calendar year. Make sure to express your gratitude
for your employees’ hard work and dedication which will help
to keep their spirits high. Consider small tokens of
appreciation like bringing in breakfast/lunch, small gift cards,
dress down days, early dismissals or movie tickets.
Embrace the Holidays
While you may think that keeping the holidays out of the office
is your best option, this might just have the opposite
effect. Encourage holiday spirit to create a positive
atmosphere. Improve morale and productivity by giving your
employees some festivities to look forward to like a holiday
luncheon, festive decorations or a cookie or gift exchange.
Set the Tone
Most important to maintaining productivity during this holiday
season is the attitude and demeanor of your top management. If
their work ethic and activity level is lacking – coming in late
and producing less than usual – your employees may follow suit.
Stay focused on your year-end goals and chances are your
employees will do the same. Always remember that the tone is set
at the top!
Realizing that holidays have an impact on your company is
important. Planning and communication along with some flexibility
and fun, will help to ensure both a productive and enjoyable
holiday season!
Holiday Celebrations Reminder:
If your office is planning a holiday celebration this year, here
are some important points to consider which can help minimize
liability.
- Communication is the key to reminding employees before the
celebration begins that all company policies still apply during
the holiday celebration, including the anti-discrimination and
harassment policies. - If you will be serving alcohol at your holiday celebration,
consider limiting employee consumption of alcohol by offering one
or two drinks per employee. You may consider offering taxi
services to any employee who may need a safe ride. - Providing additional entertainment may also discourage
drinking from becoming the central focus of the event. - In order to ensure all employees feel welcome, ensure that
your party theme is not specific to any one religion (like
Christmas or Hanukah).
