It always feels sad coming back to work after the holidays. It is to the point that you feel sluggish and demotivated, unable to get back to your routine and do some work. One of the reasons it is this way is the irregularity of one’s schedule when they aren’t working. When you are at the office, you keep a steady track of time and that helps you be productive.
You usually aren’t like that when on vacation since it’s time to relax. What can you do then to help your employees get moving after the holidays? What advice can you give the HR to help your employees deal with this stressful time? Well, below are some ways you can help employees feel stress when returning to work after a holiday.
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Return to Work from Half Week
During the first few days after the holidays, it’s been scientifically proven that employees will usually feel unmotivated and stressed from cleaning up at home. After all, things are usually hectic during holidays like Christmas and New Year. Going to work the morning right after is going to be difficult for them with the mess left at home.
In that case, a good way to keep them from feeling rushed and stressed is by allowing them to return to work from half-week. Or, if the holiday is just a day before the weekend, you can let them take that day off as well. This way, you provide them with enough time to organize and be ready to get back to work.
Make Small but Effective Changes in the Office
Doing some small yet effective changes in the office can be a great way to motivate them. Those small changes break the monotony of staying in front of the computer for long hours. It will also allow them a small reprieve from tedious work. Some of the changes you can employ in your office include
- Email Cleaning
- Short Breaks
- Light Discussions
- Video conferencing, etc.
Video statistics show that video conferencing helps to strengthen workplace relationships. It also boosts employee engagement and productivity. With stressful things are after the holidays, keeping discussions light or communicating through videos, allowing short breaks and cleaning emails can make them feel carefree.
Create a New To-Do List
Just like with giving your employees time before going back to work, creating a new to-do list help them keep things organized. Things are usually hectic after the holidays and that will easily overwhelm any employee. In that case, it’s good advice to list the things that needed to be done to determine which are priorities and which can be postponed later.
Advise your employees to break down their tasks into bite size doable chunks. By doing so, they do not only create order but make sure they can complete their most immediate responsibilities. Creating a to-do list is a great way to track what they need to accomplish. At the same time, seeing many on their list checked is an excellent form of motivation.
Create a Musical List
If it’s to motivate employees, HR managers can take advantage of music. There is nothing that can make the after-holiday blues worse than a horrible work environment. An office with lots of tension and stress are not going to make your employees driven to work. Your job then is to support them by making the office as comfortable as possible. Music can be a tool for that.
Listening to music helps calm down the tension. It also has energizing effects from its ability to engage the sympathetic nervous system. Given the benefit that music can provide, don’t forget then to create a musical playlist. List the best songs or instrumentals that can create the motivating effect you need so your employees won’t be stressed.
Do Seminar Breaks
Letting employees attend seminar breaks is like knocking down two birds with one stone. You help your employee break free from stress, while also supporting their professional advancement. When they don’t feel stressed and learn new things from the seminars, they are sure to be productive when they get back to work.
Seminars offer excellent opportunities to tackle certain issues and share perspectives on important topics. Of course, not all seminar breaks are ideal for after-holidays. A good program you may want to send your employees is a workplace wellness event. You can also set it at your own office so that everyone can relax, improve, and be productive.
Watch Something Educative or Interesting
There is fun in learning and after the holidays, watching something interesting or educative could be what your employees need. If you can’t send them to a seminar, you can instead let them watch videos of things that might help with their work. It will be even better if those videos are entertaining as well.
Good thing you can find plenty of these videos online. Some are free and some you need to pay for a small price. But there is no doubt that it will help releasee some of the stress that remains after the holidays. So, set some time for your employees to watch any informative or interesting videos related to your company.
Let Employees Find Things They Enjoy Doing at Work
You want to make your employees feel valued – that’s the first thing to keep in mind if you want them productive. The same thing applies to when they come back after the holidays. The question is – how do you do that? Well, how about letting them find things that they enjoy doing at work and letting do those things? At least for a given time.
For instance, you can let them pick a project they want to work on or give them an opportunity to propose a project to you. If given this opportunity, it is likely they will pick something that is interesting to them and will be useful to the company. If they succeed, it will give a boost to their ego and will be a good reason for them to work even better than before.
Conclusion
Dealing with the stress of work after Christmas, New Year and other holidays can be difficult for some employees. Some of them can’t handle the pressure and mess up. As the HR manager or the head of the company, the tips mentioned above will greatly help you prevent such a mess from happening. Try and see if they work!
