Maintaining morale and productivity during the holiday season can be a challenge. Family gatherings or holiday shopping can distract your team. They may also feel unmotivated when coworkers take vacations.

The question is, how can employers and managers keep employees motivated through the last half of the year? How can you help your team meet year-end goals? Below are some suggestions for keeping your team inspired.

Make Your Holiday Decorations Festive

You can enjoy the mad rush of holidays at the end of the year.

It is easy to become bored with the same surroundings. Keep things fresh in your office by decorating for the holidays. It can boost the morale of your employees and keep them engaged.

There are a lot of ways to decorate. You can:

• Allow them to design, plan, and decorate
• Allow them to share a decoration from their culture
• Cubicle decorating contest
• Best costume contest
• Corner decorating contest.

Getting into the holiday spirit is sometimes easier when your surroundings are festive.

On New Year’s Eve, Let Workers Leave Early

Since New Year’s Eve traffic is notoriously bad, surprise your employees by letting them leave early on that day. 

They’ve worked hard lately, so a nice break is definitely in order.

Consider Offering More Flexible Working Hours

Employees are more productive in the workplace when they have flexible schedules. Employees are especially busy during the holidays when personal commitments increase.

It might be hard for your team to follow the same schedule every day. It can be due to kids’ activities and other personal commitments.

 You’ll ease your employees’ burden if you provide them with flexible working hours. The stress can be heavy during the holidays.

Having a flexible schedule does not mean your team can come and go as they please.  Or it doesn’t mean they could work with fewer hours.

Communicate well with them and encourage them to plan accordingly. For example, use a collaborative calendar so everyone can schedule their availability for meetings. 

Use tools like Slack and Skype to collaborate with your team. These are great tools for flexible working arrangements.

Flexibility boosts productivity as long as shifts are covered and work gets done.

If Possible, Don’t Ask for Overtime Work

Working overtime for clients is sometimes necessary, and it should be honored.

Employees do not have to stay up so late to finish a client’s project if your team can complete it tomorrow without creating a problem. 

Some people consider overtime during holidays a punishment, resulting in low quality work. Instead, consider your significant projects in advance. Then, give your team enough breathing room to complete them. Over the holidays, you are more likely to experience issues like staff on vacation and slow response from clients.

There may be times when you need to work overtime to crunch in more sales.

Rather than being an obligation, you should offer overtime work pay. It can be an incentive to those who want to earn a little extra during the holidays. 

If you cannot provide such flexibility, do what you can to ensure that your staff knows ahead of time when it may be necessary to adjust working hours. 

Don’t forget to say “thank you.” Say this even when there is a need for overtime work. Tell your team how important their work is.

Organize an Awards Ceremony

Establish the tradition of giving weekly employee recognition between the holidays. Giving employees the chance to see if they have won will motivate them to continue to work hard. 

Inspire some friendly competition among your employees. For example, you could send company-wide emails explaining the awards and incentives. You can also give out small tokens or incentives to award winners. This practice can significantly increase your team’s productivity during the holiday season. 

Small Gifts Are a Great Way to Recognize Employees

Workplace cultures often undervalue thanking employees. It motivates and inspires employees to do great work when thanked for their efforts. It makes them more engaged and happier to surpass company goals. 

According to a survey, recognition motivates 86 percent of employees in their job. So, you should thank your employees every day for doing a good job, not just this holiday season. It will leave a lasting impression.

Handwritten notes are the best. Writing a personalized letter takes time and effort. With a personal message of appreciation, the recipient will feel appreciated for their actions. They’ll become more motivated to continue going the extra mile.

Personalized gifts are also a great way to say “thank you.” People feel good when they receive a gift because it is memorable.

Giving employees a meaningful reward enhances their bond with the company.

It could be:

• A new gadget
• Restaurant gift cards
• Extra vacation time

Whatever budget you have, make sure your rewards are valuable and meaningful to employees. It strengthens the connection between them and the business. If you need to have a more flexible budget, you can get a small loan from a legal cashmart lender like a Yishun money lender. Consider it as an investment to motivate your employees to work harder with utmost dedication.

When All Is Said and Done, Celebrate!

These days, it’s not unusual for workplace holiday parties to take place after the holidays. So instead of making the party just a holiday party, why not make it a kickoff to the upcoming year?

It marks the end of the old year and the start of a new one. If you want to recognize the achievements of your employees from the last year and encourage others for the coming year, there are a lot of ways you can do so.

Keeping the year optimistic is vital, as well as having a team that’s not at each other’s throats at the end of it. Having great sales but losing half your employees is not a win.

You and your employees may be tired at the end of the season. But you can bring everyone together and wrap up the season. Reward your workers, and look forward to what comes next.

If you follow all these tips, there’s one last thing to do. Have fun!

Holidays only occur once a year!

Let’s not forget to enjoy the holiday season. Take this opportunity to take advantage of productivity tools and strategies. Goodwill and loyalty can be built year-round with flexibility and understanding.