Finding work-life balance is a challenge at the best of times. During the holiday season, feeling overextended is a given — even for those who find lots to love about the holidays.
The competing demands of career and loved ones can send us into a doom loop of feeling we are never enough, and exhausting ourselves to a point that our performance truly suffers. Similarly, helping your team stay on task while also protecting yourself from burnout can feel impossible if you don’t have a solid plan. Here, we dive into the data behind holiday employee engagement and self-care, and we share some tried-and-true strategies we’ve learned ourselves along the way.
Time Off Versus Time Well Spent
Various sources reporting on human resources trends confirm that managers and supervisors are getting creative to keep employees happy and engaged. High on the list was offering more time off – including around the holidays, when possible. In fact, surveyed employees frequently said that more paid time off is second only to cash bonus in terms of preference.
Of course, certain industries are pressed to keep staff on the clock and performing over the holidays. The experts have strategies specific to those trying to staff hotels and restaurants. OpenTable pulled together strategies and advice for those charged with staffing in the restaurant industry that emphasizes planning ahead, letting employees express their preferences for which days they’ll work, and keeping an on-call list to replace no-shows. Hotel Dive urges managers to balance thinned-out holiday teams with strategies to keep those who do show up engaged and motivated. The company recommends removing roadblocks to productivity like tedious, outdated processes, and providing data-driving training on handling tough customers.
Tactics to Inspire Productivity
Whether your employees are working a reduced schedule or not, keeping them engaged may take extra effort. Experts offer the following tips and strategies.
Engage employees earlier in year-end tasks. Don’t completely sideline projects or broadcast the idea that you are lowering your expectations. That sends the message that you’re co-signing your teams’ slacking off. Instead, set reasonable seasonal goals — then build in a buffer by spreading out the timeline a bit.
Make recognition personal. Acknowledge an employee’s contributions with a personalized note that calls out that individual’s unique accomplishments. You can create a habit of recording observations through the year, glance through their performance review for reminders, or query their co-workers or supervisors for something specific. The key is making it authentic and sending it directly yourself.
Introduce a friendly competition. Incentives, team building and recognition — all rolled into a single undertaking — can make friendly, lighthearted competitions an end-of-year boon. Whatever the contest, post progress publicly, laud achievements loudly, and shower participants with small but meaningful rewards like gift cards for the local lunch spot.
Be flexible with their time on the clock. Offering extra time off might not be possible or realistic, but a little flexibility goes a long way. If you can provide your employees some breathing space with a longer lunch break or send them home a few minutes early on occasion, they are more likely to make the best of their time on the job.
A Note About Holiday Parties
Holiday parties have been on the chopping block with some employers, while others are leaning into them as an opportunity for connection among employees working from home or on a hybrid schedule. But how you approach a party matters: A National Institutes of Health Study found that holiday parties boost morale when done right. Those surveyed enjoyed the offering when offered at an informal setting outside the workplace, with fun activities – and without an overabundance of alcohol consumption.
Strategies to Find Your Own Work/Life Balance
Minimize scheduling headaches. Whatever your industry, staffing and scheduling can be especially problematic this time of year, between requests for planned time off and the elevated risk of absences due to illness. A sound system for employee time tracking will save you some headaches. But there are additional steps you can take to keep operations running as smoothly as possible. Remind people, early, of the clear policies around time off requests, and consider establishing a holiday-specific deadline with ample notice to encourage employees to plan well in advance will go a long way to keeping crises at bay.
Track and reward your own progress. Checklists and workplans are your friend in this effort. You know they’re invaluable in your professional life and you may already lean into them in your personal responsibilities. Listing out the family-related responsibilities that lie ahead and treating them with the same respect you do your professional goals will empower you to acknowledge just how much you are juggling. Allow yourself to take pleasure in ticking off even the most minor of items, reward yourself when you do so, and be forgiving when you must carry some over to the next week.
Get back to basics. Hydrate, rest, take time off from electronics, get your steps in and make space for a physical and psychological break from work. One of the best habits you can hone before the holidays is learning to say no first: Be highly selective about when you say yes, and then follow through on those commitments. (Staying true to your word feels good when the effort is for something that aligns with your personal priorities.) Practice gratitude, and, on the flipside, honor your losses and disappointments and bid them a gentle goodbye so the new year might allow you to leave them behind.
Let Commonwealth Payroll & HR Help Solve Your Holiday Challenges
At Commonwealth Payroll & HR, we understand how challenging it can be to maintain work-life balance, especially during the holiday season. Whether you need help streamlining your team’s holiday schedules or finding ways to boost employee engagement, we’re here to support you. Contact us today to discover how we can simplify your processes and help you create a more balanced, productive workplace — during the holidays and beyond.
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