News

Keeping Employees Engaged And Healthy Over The Holidays

Keeping Employees Engaged And Healthy Over The Holidays
by Alan Kohll

Keeping employees engaged and healthy is particularly difficult during the holiday season. The weeks between Thanksgiving and the New Year offer a lot of challenges when it comes to productivity, illness and work performance. Healthy, engaged employees are vital to a company. When employees are over-stressed or dealing with hectic schedules, they tend to drop healthy habits and become disengaged with their work.

While the winter holiday season can be filled with joy and anticipation, it can also be filled with extra food and stress – leading to unhealthy habits. It may feel counterintuitive, but the holiday season could be the best time for employers to double down on employee well-being. By recognizing the holiday season and all the joy – and stress – it can bring to employees, employers can help reduce any extra pressures around the office and keep employees motivated to finish the year strong.

Try out the following tips to help keep employees engaged and healthy over the holidays:

Express Gratitude

Workers who feel appreciated are less likely to be disengaged and unmotivated. In a University of Pennsylvania study observing employees tasked with making fundraising calls, researchers found that grateful leaders motivate their employees to be more productive. Employees who were thanked and felt a sense of appreciation from their leaders made 50% more fundraising calls than their unappreciated counterparts.

Since employees are likely to feel more stressed this time of year, showing them that they are appreciated might be the gentle push they need to prevent them from becoming disengaged and unmotivated. Employers should genuinely thank employees for a job well done. Consider writing personal holiday cards to each employee to remind them that they are appreciated for all that they do.

Reduce The Chance Of Spreading Illnesses

While the holidays bring plenty of joy and cheer, they also tend to bring a flock of germs and viruses. Hopefully, your employees have already received their company flu shot by now – which is the number one way to help prevent a flu outbreak at the office. Besides the flu shot, the best way to keep employees healthy over cold and flu season is to maintain a clean office and educate employees on the risk of spreading illnesses.

Be sure shared office spaces – such as meeting rooms, break rooms and kitchens – are thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis. Encourage employees to stay home when they are sick to avoid spreading any illnesses. Employers can also help educate employees about the cold and flu season by posting tips about promoting a healthy immune system along with reminders to clean their desks and any shared spaces as often as possible.

Read full article on Forbes.