“Merry Christmas”, “Happy Holidays”, “Happy New Year” are the phrases we hear every day whether we are out shopping, watching TV, scrolling through social media, or even in the workplace. Most people look forward to this time of year due to the excitement and anticipation children have for this time of year, the beautiful decorations, the sales and the fun and joyful music. But…as a business or as a manager: do you dread this time of year? When I managed people for quite a few years, sometimes I experienced the holiday overload due to balancing the personal excitement for the holidays while professionally trying to keep my employees engaged due to the same excitement. This can cause extreme holiday overload.
I found that there are some ways to balance the holiday season without having to sacrifice personal excitement for the season nor come across acting like “Scrooge” or the “Grinch”. Here are 3 solutions for adopting the festive season without losing ground, sales, or moral:
Lower your sales forecast for December
If you are a publicly owned company, this would be impossible to accomplish if you are concerned about pleasing your shareholders. But if you are a small or privately owned company; I would encourage you to think about lowering your forecast and expectations for the month of December. What about being able to pay employees? Most of the time, you are not hitting forecast, or you are hitting it but killing morale. Figure out the bare minimum for December and then slightly increase other months to make up the shortfall. When your employees ask why the increase throughout the year with expectations, simply communicate that you wanted to allow the opportunity to enjoy the season without adding pressure. You will also have to communicate clearly that lowering the forecast does not equate to allowing poor work performance.
Close the business down for 10-14 days
In our cut-throat, every dollar counts society, closing a business for 10-14 days is unheard of now and even “scary” to attempt. Do your employees receive paid holidays and vacation time? If so, you already have that budgeted into your annual expenses. Make this a mandatory vacation period. This would again be communicated to allow employees to enjoy the season without the pressures of work. This would help management, so they don’t come across Scrooge-like. This shows loyalty to your employees and their families as well as a commitment to your customers that you want to only be open when we can give them full attention. This will also create an opportunity for your clients to acclimate to your new schedule and learn to appreciate the work culture you are implementing.
Embrace the season in your workplace
I know that you probably decorate and have a holiday party. This does not equate to embracing the season because you are still treating the rest of the business as the same. Encourage community and team development by having contests to not only increase sales but to increase morale. Hold gingerbread house contests with each department competing against others. As management, go caroling to each department (who cares if you don’t have a good voice and they laugh). Hold a “12 days of Christmas” competition and give some type of low-cost gift to the winning department each day. Invite your clients into some of these options as “judges”. Take part as a company on company time with some type of charitable cause. Encourage a sales/production competition and the winning team receives extra time off (but always give the other departments of a consolation prize of a day off as well). The more you add to the excitement of the season instead of having to take away from it, the more morale will increase as well as loyalty.
In the end, if you or your company experiences holiday overload, don’t discourage or take away from the season. Find a way that works for your company to contribute to the excitement. If you cannot come up with practical ways, please reach out to us. We want you to be excited about this season.
-Brian