If you’re ready for the holidays, then you’re in luck: planning for this festive time of year has finally arrived! It can be a busy time of year for personal things, but it can also be a really busy time of year for things at the office. How do you do your part to keep your business running smoothly even when it’s busy? Is there a way to reduce stress for everyone in your workplace? We’ve got what you need waiting below.
Coordinate holiday specials with your affiliates
One of the biggest stressors is struggling with inaccurate links and other details that can cause a carefully planned promotion to go awry. Start planning now to check and recheck all of those affiliate links and other details that are going to need to work perfectly when the holiday season starts.
Ask employees to hand in PTO requests early
It’s not uncommon for employees to ask for time off around the holidays. Make sure that everyone gets those requests to the proper people as early as possible. If you know who’s going to be off and when, it can make staffing much easier so that everyone gets what they want and need! Plan ahead is key here, for employees, the employer as well as the customers and/or vendors.
Prioritize communication
Since holidays tend to bring in more customers and clients, it can mean more stress. Make sure you take the time to communicate with your team so that everyone knows what’s happening and when. This will be a great way to keep the lines of communication open, too, when needed. Don’t forget to add in some morale-boosting, too!
Have a holiday training session
Why not consider a pre-holiday season meeting. The odds are in your favor that you’ve added a few employees since the last holiday season. Take the time to hold a training or discussion to go over anything that is holiday-specific and have everyone attend it.. It’s a good refresher for everyone, reminds everyone what is expected of them and what usually happens this time of year. Planning is essential here to help reduce stress and keep your employees happier during a stressful season.
Hire some holiday employees
Feeling like the holiday rush is going to crush your employees? Hire some relief staff just for the holiday season. Students and even retirees are always looking for holiday jobs, so it can be a great way to make sure that you’ve got all shifts covered and do your part to help out someone who is searching for a temporary job! Make sure to invite these folks to that holiday training and/or meeting as noted above.
Focus on employee care
Even with the best planning, the holidays can be hard for many employees because of the difficulty in balancing work and home life. Make sure to show compassion and have as much flexibility as possible when it comes to extra breaks during long, busy shifts, or coming in late or leaving early during holiday shopping hours when they need to do their own shopping.
Remember to thank employees and boost morale by hosting a holiday party for the team, if you can. This can go a long way to showing how much you care about your employees and how much you appreciate their hard work.
The holidays are great, but they can be stressful for employees too, so be mindful of all of these things during this season of cheer. These tips will help you do what you can to help everyone on staff enjoy a wonderful, safe, and properly balanced holiday season — at home and at work.
If we can help with some team building, those planning strategies, team meetings or building up your leadership, let us know as this is right up the Team Stetzel alley. We work with busy entreprenuers, executives, leadership teams and small to large businesses to help them success in their businesses and companies. Contact Team Stetzel at (832) 346-7670 or Get Started Here.
