Christmas can be a very stressful time for everyone.
Stress can have a huge impact on the productivity and morale within your workforce, but there are opportunities you can use to turn this stress into high employee morale.
Christmas should be a time for celebrating and enjoying time with family and friends.
But for some, the amount of stress that can come from Christmas can take its toll on their wellbeing.
For many reasons people can struggle with their stress levels especially when it comes to the festive period this can come from financial worries, time management, or even having a heavy workload.
There are many opportunities that employers can offer to help support their employees during the festive period, and most of the changes they make can boost employee morale and increase their productivity:
Christmas themed workplace
If your workplace is suitable, such as offices, then decorating with Christmas decorations can help reduce employee stress levels, especially if you allow employees to decorate the office themselves, for example allowing them to decorate their desks with as much or as little decorations as they see fit.
Also, on the build up to Christmas, employers should encourage teams to take part in Christmas activities such as secret Santa, Christmas jumper day and not forgetting the all-important Christmas office party which can bring teams together and create new bonds within teams.
Offer flexible hours
Many employees throughout the festive period struggle with their time management, this can be from many reasons such as finding childcare for children who are on holiday from school, or even the amount of work that is put on them.
But granting employees with the option of flexible working hours allows them to schedule work around their personal lives, this can come in very handy to employees who do have children and struggle to find child care outside of school term, as well as the employees who have a huge work load they can work around their own personal times while still managing to get the work done in their own time.
Holiday bonuses
This option, although not cost effective to companies, can be an instant morale boost with workforces.
If you set targets throughout the year and your employees hit their targets or as a company, you hit your overall target then as a thank you to employees for their hard work you can provide them with a monetary bonus, which can help employees afford Christmas and not have the worry about the extra cost that comes with Christmas.
Having these yearly targets can also increase motivation and productivity throughout the year and not just over the Christmas period, providing employees with end goals and rewards can help them realise that they are appreciated for all the hard work they put in for your company.
Work from home
Many companies close their offices over the Christmas period, but for some, closing their offices is not an option.
With the use of modern technology, you can allow your team to work from home during the Christmas period, this allows them to continue enjoying the festivities but still provide your company with the skills and professionalism your company receive over the year.
Engage with your team
At the end of the year some employees are very up to date with their workloads, as less work comes in from suppliers or partners as they are also working towards the Christmas shut down.
So use this as a conversation starter with your team to ask them questions for how you as their employer can help make things in the office easier, for example allowing them to work earlier and finish earlier, if they require time off to do their Christmas shopping.
These methods can easily reduce employee stress, as your team will feel appreciated and their morale will be a lot higher, as they will be enjoying their time in the office.
With both their stress levels reduced and morale levels high your team will be motivated to do a good job during the Christmas period as well as the rest of the year.
For ways to keep your team motivated during the December visit our blog post here.
About CiC
CiC are EAP specialists, committed to supporting employers and business owners in providing a happy, healthy and productive workplace for their employees. Contact us today to find out more.