The festive season means different things to different people. For some, it is a busy time catching up with family and friends. For others, it can be an isolating and lonely time. This can lead to staff having lots on their mind with hectic schedules and juggling different commitments, to feeling very stressed or depressed. As an employer how can you support your staff whilst maintaining productivity to keep your business on track?
Annual leave during the festive season
Have you ensured that your annual leave policy is up-to-date and has been recently communicated with your staff? Line managers will need to coordinate with their teams well in advance of busy periods, whether this is due to work deadlines or popular times to take annual leave. With good coordination and planning, managers will be able to approve leave fairly and distribute workloads to keep deadlines and business on course.
If your business experiences a peak at Christmas, it may mean you have to restrict annual leave. It is essential that this is clearly communicated well in advance so that no one is caught off guard and left feeling aggrieved. Try to be as accommodating as possible and explain to an employee why annual leave has not been approved.
If this season is particularly busy in your business it may mean that you employ seasonal workers, for more advice on seasonal workers read our blog on this.
Set clear business objectives and communicate regularly with your staff
Continuous feedback and clear communication are always important, it helps to keep people focused. Setting clear business objectives will enable employees and managers to ensure goals and targets are achieved, whilst quickly addressing any issues and any required revaluation of goals and objectives.
People appreciate updates and reminders of what is coming up, it helps them to maintain focus and motivation. This is also an opportunity for everyone to be aware of who is working on what, who is absent and if all work is being picked up. If you have people working remotely or in multiple locations don’t forget to keep them in the loop too.
Be realistic when you are setting the business objectives and individual goals. You want to help people to focus on work and be less distracted, but you don’t want to overload them and set unachievable goals causing staff to feel stressed or disengaged.
Take a proactive approach to your staffs’ health and mental wellbeing
A great employer takes the time to really get to know their staff and can then better support them, creating an excellent working environment. As previously mentioned the festive season means different things to different people. Are you aware of any staff who might be struggling at this time of year, perhaps due to a family bereavement or divorce?
As a society, we are recognising that we need to take a proactive approach in addressing and improving mental health and the benefits of doing this. However, much is still needed to be done in the workplace. Workplace mental health costs employers around £26 billion per year, as an employer, this is not an issue that should be overlooked.
Recognising your staff’s achievements and contributions
When we are busy at work it is very easy to forget to take the time to recognise people’s achievements and contributions. Towards the end of the year, it is a good time to reflect and set new goals. Take this opportunity to remind your staff of how you have appreciated their hard work during the last 12 months and don’t undervalue the positive effect this will have on motivation and productivity.
Communicate the objectives for the coming year ahead to keep everyone moving forward and drive the business into 2019.
Enjoying the festive season in the workplace
Creating a festive atmosphere and celebrating the end of a year can really inject some fun and re-energise people, especially when some are starting to lag.
Keeping everyone focused on work and not switching off to enjoy the festivities can be a difficult balancing act. Small gestures such as buying the team mince pies, can go a long way and don’t have to interrupt the working day too much.
If your company has a Christmas party or function and you want to avoid any potential HR problems, then read our blog Avoiding HR issues at the Christmas work party.
Being mindful and respectful of all your staff is always essential. Employees of different faiths, no faith or for other personal reasons may not appreciate having the festivities associated around Christmas forced upon them. Understanding religious festivals as an employer is a necessary part of managing a team.