Six ways to keep employees focused and happy during the holiday season

The months of November and December are traditionally spent preparing for, and enjoying, holidays such as Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s. People who work in offices are often overloaded as they try to combine personal goals such as shopping, traveling, and hosting family with work goals such as finishing all of their projects before their holiday break. It’s a well-documented fact that stress and depression levels soar at this time of year.

At the same time, it’s a crucial period for businesses trying to achieve certain goals by year’s end. The clash of these important issues can be enough to bring even the best performer down.

We recommend that HR managers recognize that employees are likely to be distracted, stressed, and unfocused around the holidays, and take pro-active steps to minimize their stress and help keep their eyes on the prize at this challenging time of year.

Keeping work-related focus during the holidays is a issue that comes up annually, so we turned to the very best articles on the subject, written over the past few years, to glean the best ideas in the business. Some are Santa-like, and some have a touch of Scrooge about them, but all of them have been recommended by bloggers we know and respect.

• Set a good example as a manager. If ‘focus’ is something you are asking of employees, don’t cheat by shopping online during working hours, and don’t skate out of the office early just because the in-laws are town. Take the high road, every time.
• Watch out for signs of the ‘winter blues.’ As a manager, be on the lookout for signs among your people of ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder,’ abbreviated SAD, a condition whereby a lack of sunlight causes depression. The short days of the winter months, combined with work anxiety and the stress of the holidays, can quickly add up to a serious medical problem. Fortunately, if diagnosed, SAD can easily be treated with light therapy and/or antidepressants.
• Celebrate together. It’s good for morale to acknowledge that it is a special season. Your celebration can be as simple as coffee and cake in the break room, or as elaborate as a holiday party in an upscale restaurant. Many workplaces enjoy a small gift exchange among employees, and employers who have had a good year often give out gift certificates or small tokens of appreciation.
• If you give year-end bonuses, tie them to performance. Oftentimes, these bonuses are taken for granted. Work around this false perception by setting up a clear expectation that bonuses are tied to performance to keep people focused until they actually get the check.
• Give the gift of time. Sometimes, a little free time in a busy season is even more precious than cash. Consider flexible scheduling at this time of year, or simply give everyone a certain afternoon off to do their cooking, cleaning, shopping, wrapping, and other holiday tasks. What it may cost you in a few hours’ wages is more than made up for by the goodwill it brings back.
• Engage people’s giving spirit – outside the organization. People tend to forget any petty concerns and stress when they focus on something bigger and outside of themselves. Build on their holiday spirit and willingness to give back with an employer-sponsored toy drive, charity partnership, or volunteer time spent at a soup kitchen. It will do good, and bring your team together. Together, you can do much more than any of you could do alone.

• 8 Simple Steps for Maintaining Employee Efficiency during the Holiday Season
• How to Stay Focused During the Holiday Season
• Holidaze: Beating the Holiday Blues and Stress
• Holiday Stress Hotspots: Manage Holiday Stress with Knowledge

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