Look after yourself and your team in the lead-up to the festive season.
Whatever and however you choose to celebrate, the end of the year is often a busy time. Businesses are rushing to get orders filled before the Christmas deadline, shutdowns may be looming, and there are financial pressures on many people. Although exciting, it can be stressful for employers and employees alike—and this all starts as early as October!
A smooth and low-stress lead-up to the festive season is beneficial to all involved. A holiday should be an opportunity to refresh, recharge, and come back better off. But that’s difficult to achieve when the two months before the break have been frantic. If you need a week of recovery before you can begin to enjoy yourself, a summer break is not going to have quite the same effect.
Here’s how you—whether you’re an employer or employee—can take action to improve your EOY experience.
Fight the fatigue
End-of-year fatigue is a real thing. For companies that experience a busy period before Christmas and the summer season, the rush can start as early as October. Two months is a long time to be under the pump, and it has noticeable effects.
Financial pressures at home and at work can take a toll on all involved, as can an array of things that rear their head during December: busy schedules, kids’ exams and holiday care arrangements, family politics. Remember what’s important and do your best to take focus off the rest!
EOY Advice for employers: leading your team into December
Keeping your team on top of the game during the lead-up to Christmas and the holiday period is quite the task for business leaders. During a busy time, it’s especially important to ensure that everyone is well, morale is high, and people are able to take a break and wind down properly when the time comes.
Of course, you also want to end the year on a high note! Most businesses hold Christmas or holiday functions to celebrate a year of work well done. This is a great way to treat your employees and say “thank you”.
If the end of the year is a busy time for your company, here are a few pointers and things to consider as things ramp up.
- Keeping things fresh and interesting is important when you’re under the pump. Vary your team meetings by asking other people to speak and present, bringing in guests, or breaking out the festive treats.
- Remember to keep communication channels open. Ask your team members for ideas on how to get things done efficiently during busy times—after all, they are the ones on the shop floor day in and day out. You can acknowledge that the run-up to Christmas will be busy and directly ask for any suggestions on better work design from those with the experience.
- Plan a team-building day prior to the busy period kicking off. This can help get your people on the same page and working well together when it counts.
- Ensure that correct PPE is available and working for the busy period and the change of season. You can go above and beyond what is strictly required with this to keep everyone comfortable. What will the summer heat mean for your team? Do they have easy access to water and air conditioning or shade when needed? If there’s any kind of required dress, is the clothing lightweight enough? What else can you do to ensure the heat isn’t affecting people?
- Plan ahead and keep your inventory stocked to see out the busy season. This helps to prevent creating even more stress around urgent orders and delays when deadlines are looming.
Above all, you should be engaging your team members in conversations about stress, pressure, and how they are coping. Their feedback and thoughts are invaluable as you find ways to make the end-of-year period manageable for everyone. Good work design will be the best foundation, and it requires feedback in both directions.
An aside: the question of team functions
Whether you call it an end-of-year event or Christmas party, it’s often expected that there’s some kind of event put on in November or December. And while many moan about these, they do serve some important functions (pun intended): they allow people to let their hair down, facilitate connections between people who might not work directly together, and are a great way to say “thanks for a great year” to the whole team.
Every company is unique, and the typical EOY gathering might not work for them all. Here are some different possibilities to consider when making plans for an event that will suit yours:
- Hold a team-building day rather than an evening event—just make sure it’s something fun. Activities that give people something to focus on may be a better choice if standing around and socialising isn’t your team’s thing.
- Get whanau involved. Putting on an event that’s kid-friendly and inviting the children and grandchildren of your employees is a fantastic way to boost morale and show appreciation.
- If you’d rather avoid an event of any type you could make a donation instead, to a charity chosen by the team as a whole.
Top tip: any function should be a good time for your team and not an obligation or more stress added to their plate. If you’re holding it during the day, don’t expect people to go back to work afterwards. And if it’s an evening event, try to plan it for a night when all or most of the team don’t have to be in the next morning.
If your operations mean that there’s always someone on duty, you may have to get creative—and there might be no way around it. But allow your planning to be guided by the goal of having your employees enjoy themselves without worrying about work.
Tips for team members: looking after yourself
December and the months leading up to it can be stressful at work and at home. As we mentioned above, it’s important for individuals to be looking out for their own wellbeing. This means ensuring you are getting good sleep, nutrition, and exercise where possible (in addition to enjoying a break and some festive treats).
For more thoughts on how to keep yourself healthy both mentally and physically, take a look at this recent blog: Better Wellbeing for Workers.
As a team, you should be checking in on each other and keeping safety at the forefront. It’s all too easy to let that slip when it’s busy, but it should remain the number one priority. Whether you work in an office, manufacturing plant or you're a tradie, make sure that whatever tools you use are calibrated, tagged, inspected, and/or fit for purpose. Advocate for the correct equipment or PPE; ensure it does what it is intended to do and corresponds logically to the time of year.
And just as we advise employers to keep lines of communication open, you as a team member have the right to speak up when you have a better, safer, or easier way to complete a task. An improved work design is achieved as a collaboration between all levels of the organisation, and it’s an always-evolving area of continuous improvement. Don’t suffer in silence.
We wish you a merry pre-Christmas—yes, even in October!