As lovely as the festive period is, it’s also a stressful time of year for many. Employees are working hard to get everything finished by the end of the year, fitting in social engagements and getting less sleep, alongside preparing for Christmas at home with their families at a time where winter bugs are rife. Productivity and efficiency can decline as December goes on, and it’s important for employers to look at ways to reduce the stress in the workplace and allow everyone to finish the year on a positive note. We are going to look at ways in which employers do this.

Creating realistic targets – Employers can often create added targets to finish things by the end of the year to start the new year with a clean slate, but assigning unachievable targets can result in employees becoming over worked and demotivated. Taking into account the increase in people being away from the workplace and the added pressures that this causes is really important.

Reminding staff to use their leave – Lots of businesses insist that staff use their leave up before the end of the year – to save from employees rolling over numerous days and this inconveniencing the business in future years. It can be very easy for employees to not book holidays throughout the year and have lots of days left at the end of the year, resulting in lots of people wanting to take time off all at the same time. This can create incredibly stressful situations when deadlines are set and less members of staff in! Sending gentle reminders to staff throughout the year of how many days holiday they have left to take and to use them throughout the year can help.

Having a robust annual leave calendar – Following on from the holiday booking process, it’s important to have a fair and efficient way of booking holiday. Not allowing the same people to have Christmas off every single year and having a process in place to prevent this happening is a good idea. Encourage employees to book leave with plenty of notice can help, as can a transparent leave calendar so employees are able to see who else had booked time away from the workplace.

Consider allowing employees to work from home more regularly – Having a more flexible approach to home working over the festive period is a great way of rewarding staff and reducing stress levels. Long commutes in cold dark weather do nothing for morale and eat up valuable hours in the day at a time when everyone is under pressure. This isn’t possible in all businesses, but worth considering if it’s something that could work in your workplace.

Encourage employees to get outside – The shortened day light hours during winter can really increase stress levels and reduce staff morale. Leaving the house in the dark and arriving home in the dark can be a far from appealing thought. Lack of exposure to sunlight during winter lowers serotonin levels in the brain; a hormone that affects mood, sleep and appetite. Encouraging employees to get outside during their breaks for a walk in the daylight (I won’t go as far as saying sunshine, this is the UK we are talking about!), can help to boost these levels.

Zara Lilleycrop

Profile Personnel