The Christmas festivities are now in full swing, as we all get ready to tuck into 1, 2, 3…maybe 4 roast dinners, pull up our fluffy socks and spend some quality time with the family. When it comes down to it, unplugging is essential for individual and business health. Chronic stress and burnout is not something anyone wants for Christmas this year!
Set an example and create a culture where switching-off is a requirement, not a benefit. Communicate expectations of staff over the festive period, clearly. Set achievable goals to be completed by the end of the year, so there isn’t a last-minute panic, or carry over of stress into the new year.
Switching off too early?
A lot of businesses struggle with the opposite issue, with 43% of staff switching off by the third week of December. Around this time, you might be noticing standards start to slip; whether this be attendance, dress code (as the festive wear makes its appearance!), or simply a slower pace of working and lack of focus, resulting in a lot of stuff just not getting done.
The knee jerk reaction is for employers to kick things up a gear, inflate deadlines, set demanding targets, and create a pressurized environment to get their staff back on track. This year, try switching tactics:
• Use the ‘quiet’ time to focus on self-development/training opportunities that you might have otherwise been unable to accommodate.
• Encourage in-work hours celebrations to relieve the growing sense of FOMO, some businesses have even introduced Festive shopping zones/times – allowing their staff to pop out and surf the net, instead of doing it in secret to avoid the post work rush – in turn focusing on work outside of this allocated time.
• Introduce non-standard work projects to switch it up from the every-day mundane business tasks – aim for shorter, varied tasks instead of large scale projects to keep the interest peaking.
• Use the time as a period of reflection, to shout out about the work done in 2023, have your employees head home feeling like they have achieved something and (rightfully!) deserve to relax.
Find out more on our website: https://www.questconsultingservices.co.uk/
Having worked within businesses as a Line Manager, I know first hand some of the frsutrations faced…
