While the holiday season is often filled with joy and celebrations, this time of year can also bring with it hardships for employees. From balancing work duties with holiday events, taking time off and coming back to a heavy workload, or having less employees to take on some of the duties, employee stress levels can rise leading up to and during the holidays. Employers can help to alleviate employee anxiety and keep spirits up by supporting employees and implementing simple strategies to get the team through this period with minimal stress.
Good time management
Offer support to employees in managing time effectively to meet tight deadlines or deal with heavier workloads leading up to the holidays. By providing useful recommendations and facilitating them, employees will feel better able to complete all their tasks in a timely manner. Invite employees to set clear goals and objectives to be completed within reasonable timeframes; this allows tasks to be easily tracked and checked off leading to a sense of accomplishment and high levels of motivation.
Stay focused
Encourage employees to remain focused on core work tasks and deadlines. Clearly communicate to the team what the priorities are so employees can focus their time and energy on these objectives. Understanding that time becomes more finite as the holiday season approaches is key, so any non-essential tasks and meetings can be scheduled for the new year when employees return to work ready for a fresh start.
Offer flexibility
With the holiday season comes holiday planning for many employees. Whether this involves shopping for presents, planning vacations, organising gatherings or coordinating child minding during the school holidays, flexibility can be offered to employees during the weeks leading up to the holidays. If it’s workable for the business, employers may opt to allow employees to leave work early or have extended breaks in order to complete some of these holiday tasks. Additionally, finishing up early on Christmas Eve or New Years Eve will encourage employees to get into the festivities by being able to spend more time with loved ones.
Promote workplace wellness
Workplace wellness should be promoted and take place all year round. As the holidays approach, however, it can be easy for employees to forget about taking care of themselves with over indulgent eating and drinking habits, and increased social activities combined with work stress. Being extra attentive with workplace wellness initiatives will encourage employees to stay healthy, slow down and take care of their wellbeing during this busy time of year.
Supporting good work life balance in your workplace is the key to happy employees. It fosters a positive culture where employees feel valued and appreciated, and is even more important during the hectic holiday season. Need assistance with managing your team leading up to and over the holidays? Get in touch with our team via the chat box here or by calling us on 08 6150 0043.
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