3 Simple Ways to Maintain Productivity at Christmas

Each minute is a little thing, and yet, with respect to our personal productivity, to manage the minute is the secret of success.
Joseph B. Wirthlin

Easy Ways to Get Things Done Over The Holidays

The holiday season is a time of the year when everyone in the office is looking forward to time with family, time away from work, and some well needed rest.

However, one of the problems that is just part of the holiday season, is employees experiencing a significant drop in productivity.

In one alarming yet revealing study conducted by CareerBuilder, it was shown that over 50% of employees sneak in holiday shopping while they should be working. Whether on their smartphone or computer, shopping for the holidays rather than working can seriously impact the overall productivity of the business.

While employers understand that their employees are certainly distracted this time of year, companies need to find ways to help keep the focus during this time of year.

Here are three simple things any business owner can do to keep up that productivity throughout the long holiday season:

1. Using the Holiday Season to Your Advantage

Just because the holidays are fast approaching doesn't mean the employer has to roll over and accept the decline in overall employee productivity.

Use the holidays as a way to increase productivity in a fun way.

Why not offer tickets to local sporting or cultural events to the employee who can reach or break a certain sales goal? Or energise the entire sales force and offer quality gift certificates to their favourite shopping centre. The small price of the gift will be nothing compared to the overall increase in all the work force.

2. Encourage Teamwork at the Workplace

This time of year is very stressful for your employees.

They are dealing with working all day, then thinking about finding time to buy holiday gifts and spend more time with the family. All those family obligations can really impact how well an employee can function this time of year.

Stack on top of that a monthly goal that needs to be met, and the stress could actually cause workers to have difficulty even focusing at work.

Use the power of the team to help lessen the stress level and increase productivity at the same time. Break up the employees into small groups, and then make the goals weekly, much smaller than one big monthly goal. Each time a sales team meets or exceeds that weekly goal, reward them with a dinner or bonus to help alleviate some of that holiday stress.

When the sales force feel they can lean on others in the group, it will help them to better cope with their family issues and the upcoming holiday obligations.

3. Giving Employees Time to Recharge

You might be surprised by how much a little relaxation can go in helping increase the overall productivity in the workplace.

During the holidays, an employee probably has more going on than you will ever know.

Dealing with the in-laws coming to stay, declining health of parents, or the stress of trying to make ends meet this month, are all reasons a person will gladly welcome some downtime.

Encourage your employees to take part in an extended coffee break where new coffees or teas can be offered to calm everyone's nerves. Give the employees an afternoon each week where they can leave early and get a jump start on their holiday shopping. If the workplace becomes a more comfortable place, the productivity will certainly rise. Employees will not only be grateful for the time off, they will reward the employer by working harder when they are on the clock.

The bottom line, your employees will work more effectively when they are energised.

The holiday season should be a time of being grateful. Understanding the personal commitments of your employees - and giving them the time they need to lessen the load that they are carrying this holiday season - will certainly go a long way.

HAVE YOU GOT A STRATEGY IN PLACE TO MAINTAIN PRODUCTIVITY THIS SEASON?

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