Many people consider the holidays the best time of the year. But, what happens to productivity during this time? Employers have noticed a decrease in productivity during the holiday season. With so much excitement, people tend to become distracted. Some employees even admitted to doing holiday shopping online while they were on the clock.
Others go over holiday plans and put a lot of thought into what they are going to buy their friends and family members. These distractions are the main reason for lost productivity. Lower productivity means lowers profits. Therefore, it is vital to correct this problem right away. But, you have to solve it in a constructive way. This article is going to list 6 ways to keep employees engaged and productive.
Make the Holidays Fun
Making the holidays fun at work is a great way to increase productivity. As we already mentioned, a lot of people are distracted by all of the holiday events they have going on in their personal life. One of the best ways to combat this is to make work fun. Making work fun will reduce stress.
Reduced stress will improve employee productivity. The only limit to making work fun is your own creativity. You can divide the employees into teams and see which team can create the best office decorations. You could have employees participate in a secret Santa exchange.
Downtime
We all need downtime to reduce stress. Holidays can be a lot of fun. But, they can also be a source of stress. This stress can have a negative impact on productivity. The holiday season is a busy time of year for most companies. They may be tempted to encourage employees to work overtime.
But, too much overtime can cause employees to burnout. In fact, an article released by CNBC suggests that employees should not work more than 50 hours a week. Working too much overtime is also the number one factor in sleep deprivation. It is vital to give employees downtime.
Offer Incentives
Offering incentives is a great way to increase productivity without overworking your employees. There are a lot of ways you can incentivize your employees. For example, you can offer a bonus for getting projects done before the deadline. If an employee is getting an hourly rate, they don’t have as much incentive to complete the project early.
But, when they have a goal to reach for, they will find the motivation they didn’t know they had. Rewards do not always have to be financial. You could also give employees more paid days off as a reward for increased productivity.
Encourage Personal Development
It is important to encourage the personal growth of your employees. If you don’t encourage personal growth, you employees might not live up to their potential. It is vital to understand that helping your employees improve will benefit the company as well.
Regular negotiations training is a great way to help your employees improve. Leaders with training in this area are better equipped to influence employees and help them see the bigger picture.
Offer Value
It is important to offer value to your employees. If you only give them enough incentives to keep them from quitting, they will do just enough work to prevent losing their job. Too many people make the mistake of trying to squeeze as much as they can out of their employees.
Be a Leader
There is a difference between a leader and a boss. A boss yells. A boss uses fear to keep the employees motivated and productivity up. While this strategy may seem to work, a boss will never be able to influence employees the way a leader can. A leader sets the example.
She holds herself to a higher standard than she holds her employees to. She will never ask anything of an employee that she would not be willing to do herself. A leader uses encouragement and gratitude to increase productivity.
Dennis Hung is an entrepreneur and product analyst specializing in mobile technology and IoT. He’s spent most of his career consulting for businesses in North America.