As we settle into the new year, employees may be faced with a mountain of work and overfilled inboxes. It is not surprising that it may take some time for employees to fully settle back into their roles.

So, what can employers and employees do to speed up this process?

Motivation

Keeping employees focussed after their holiday can be a difficult task. Here are some tips to motivate employees during those crucial first weeks back;

  • Don’t expect an employee to be able to work at high-speed during their first days of work. Book meetings later in the week and help manage workloads,
  • Identify backups and support within your teams, encourage cohesive and supportive behaviour,
  • Don’t forget about the previous years’ accomplishments, remind employees of their previous hard work and switch the employee mindset back into productive mode.

Communication

Effective communication is vital in all workplaces and has a great impact when employees return from holidays. Overloaded email inboxes, voicemails, piled paperwork or missing information can take some time for an employee to sort through and prioritise. Here are some communication tips to help employees return to work;

  • Update or remind employees with any changes to projects or deadlines,
  • Update employees of any client updates they may have missed over the break or other important information that may have been lost in their inboxes,
  • Don’t rely on emails that may add to the growing ‘to be looked at’ pile, instead choose the most effective method to communicate outstanding items or expectations – this can be done face-to-face, via phone or telecommunication,
  • Re-evaluate and then communicate to your team the short-term and long-term goals for your business in 2019. Ask for employee input as well! Who knows of the inspiration that occurred over the holiday period,
  • Be aware of each other’s workloads, work together as a team and help day to day operations be more manageable.

Relationships

Allowing productive breaks and some socialising at work can increase productivity.

  • Re-connect with customers and important stakeholders, learn and adjust to any changing expectations, needs and wants.
  • Stimulate innovation and fun within the office by spending time with direct reports, co-workers and listen to their experiences. Use this time to re-connect and share stories,
  • Additionally, utilise this time by encouraging discussions that break down their projects, prioritising tasks that work cohesively across teams.

Want some assistance returning to work? Contact our specialist team for a no obligation chat today.