HRM Coaching Blog

Everyone looks forward to getting a few days respite from work over Christmas and the New Year, but most people still work in between the two.  It’s understandable that most of your team members would rather be at home with the family, or even out shopping, but if they are at work there is still a job to be done.

Motivating your staff can be difficult at the best of times, but what do you do at this seasonal time of year when concentration levels can be even lower than usual?

There is an excellent section on the Business Link website which goes into great depth on the various aspects of leading and motivating staff.  One of these talks about the possibility of introducing flexible working conditions, and this is something which is worth considering seriously at this time of year.

It may be too much to expect people to work exactly as they normally would, but you obviously need to get the required work load completed as normal.  Some flexibility on both sides – from you as a manager and also from your workforce – can result in better working conditions and more enthusiasm from every employee.

Here are a couple of suggestions which could work well in this situation:

• Flexible working hours can be an advantage for many people.  So long as each team member does their daily quota, why not let them start earlier or later during the run up to Christmas, and in between Christmas and New Year?
• A casual dress code would be welcomed by most people if you normally arrive at work suited and booted.  Provided you are not meeting with clients, most office environments would welcome this on a temporary basis.

Generally speaking, if people feel that their needs and desires are being met in the workplace, they will perform better and feel better about their work.  Some managers feel that by being more lenient about the usual timekeeping practices and the dress code, they are letting employees get away with more than usual.

But in fact this isn’t the way it works.  By appearing rigid and sticking to the rules, managers’ risk butting up against workers who decide not to give their all because they feel as if they are not appreciated.

A little seasonal goodwill can go a very long way, and most people will genuinely appreciate being given some freedom in their daily work lives during the festive season.  If they can rearrange their working hours to accommodate visiting friends and relatives for a couple of hours, for example, they are likely to feel much better about the prospect of having to work in the first place.

And what does that produce?  A better and more productive employee when they turn up.

So show some spirit of the season this year, and Christmas in the workplace will be much jollier!

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