How to Keep Employees Engaged Over the Holidays

The festive season is upon us! Everyone has different plans for the holidays, which can be exciting! However, this excitement can affect employees’ engagement levels and the company overall. Here’s how you can keep employees engaged over the holidays.

How Employees Are Affected Over The Holiday Season

With a mix of distraction, anticipation, and pressure, the holiday season can impact businesses in several ways.

The Holidays Can Enhance Creativity and Motivation 

The excitement that the season brings can induce positive emotions, boosting innovation and creativity. The holiday spirit and the positivity it comes with bring energy, and the energy brings motivation and creativity.

The Holidays May Bring Sadness

Despite being a jolly season, the holidays are more than just large banquets and gift exchanges. It can also be a time for nostalgic moments for families who are grieving their loved ones that have departed. 

Managers should take note of these feelings when it comes to engaging their team. It’s crucial for managers to show empathy and compassion, acknowledging that the holidays are an emotional season. While it may not be ideal for those feelings to occur during one of the most important and busiest times for businesses, it’s the reality.

The Holidays Can Be Distracting

As a manager, it can be fun to socialize and celebrate with the employees, but it can be challenging to keep everyone on task. It can be motivating to end the year with the completion of a milestone or a huge project. It’s recommended to plan your final quarter with a big project that can get the entire team involved. Additionally, suppose the project makes your company more competitive in the following year. In that case, the employees' engagement levels are increased because of the drive to start the following year strong.

How to Keep Employees Engaged Over the Holidays

Here are some ideas on how to decrease workplace stress during the holidays. It’s essential to make sure that your team’s momentum is high throughout the season to end the year on a strong note.

Recognize Successes to Boost Employee Engagement.

Utilizing simple and positive employee appreciation strategies such as “Thank You” cards, phone calls, and congratulatory emails that acknowledge an amazing performance can boost employee engagement.

Set Challenging Goals to Keep Your Team on The Right Track

By setting business goals that are achievable, you’re paving an excellent way to keep team members and employees on track. Ensure that the goals are communicated clearly and are available in writing so that employees can look back at the list when needed.

Encourage Time Off During the Holidays

The holiday season calls for family obligations, parties, travel, and a need to relax after a year of working earnestly. It’s encouraged for employees to spend time with their families during the holiday season. Ensure that the employees have the flexibility to work around families and holiday needs.

Creating and implementing holiday time-off policies lets the employees know that you care for a positive work-life balance and that no boundaries are crossed. Furthermore, your employees have a higher rate of returning to work well-rested and ready to focus.

Keep Employees in the Loop to Promote Engagement

Employees that feel like they’re playing an active role in the development of their company results in them being less likely to push back from the leadership team’s directives. Not just that, employees will frequently pitch in useful ideas or information that can significantly affect your company’s goals.

Experts recommend establishing a weekly or monthly company wide meeting to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Establish a Positive Atmosphere to Increase Motivation

If you want to increase company morale, then it’s important to build an atmosphere of camaraderie, acceptance, and equity. This will result in the employees feeling more motivated to accomplish their personal goals at work and team up with their fellow colleagues.

At the time of the holidays, the key here is positivity. Don’t forget that your staff takes cues from you, so exhibiting the right attitude is the first step.

Conclusion

The holidays can be exciting and stressful at the same time. By following these helpful tips, you can guarantee that your employees’ engagement levels remain high even during the festive season. 

Assess the best ways to celebrate success, encourage time off, and set attainable goals. The holidays should be the perfect opportunity for engagement rather than a wave of distractions. This can spark motivation that will transcend into the upcoming new year.