Christmas is less than two weeks away now, and the excitement is already filling the air around us! The holiday season is normally associated with celebration, happiness, and all things colourful, but it’s also the time to be sensitive to what people closest to us are experiencing. At workplaces, especially, while teams gear up to wrap up the workload for the year, it’s easy to overlook the employees who are stressed out with the pressure of meeting year-end goals and keeping up with numerous personal responsibilities. Not to mention the guilt, loneliness, or feelings of disdain that one feels when they are away from home. 

Christmas is about giving to the ones we love, but what about Christmas at work? 

What are some of the ways an organization can create a sensitive and engaging workplace this Christmas to increase employee engagement and push for well-being and productivity, all while staying true to the spirit of the season? We know that employee engagement activities are way to go, but what kind exactly? Here’s what we think can be tried out: 

For one fun and interesting workshop for professional growth. Curating innovative sessions designed particularly for professional growth but with a touch of entertainment and fun is something that can ease the mood from strenuous work and add some gaiety to the air. While these workshops can include activities that include brainstorming sessions for new ideas and goals for the upcoming year, they predominantly focus on improving creative problem-solving, holistic development, effective communication between colleagues, and team building. Exactly what we need to push up the Christmas cheer! 

Next up is to create a more flexible work environment. Now, festive stress during any holiday season is real when employees feel overwhelmed with pressure as they struggle to maintain a good work-life balance. At times, these might lead to a reduction in productivity in the workplace. What can be done in these situations is to take a sensitive approach and be considerate of employees’ situations. 

One way is to personally ask them what challenges they are going through and find ways to tackle them. Believe it or not, this drastically helps improve employee engagement, builds a sense of trust among employees, assures them that they are valued and cared for and compels them to work better. Additionally, sharing gratitude notes or hampers with traits that highlight the character of each employee written down helps work wonders. Acknowledging the efforts of employees year-round and gifting them personalized messages is a great way of showing appreciation. An alternate option is to organize Christmas-related games and programmes—anything to take their minds off work for a bit and soak in the vibes and lightheartedness of the season! 

And finally, potlucks and parties! One can never go wrong with these, can they? Hosting company-wide potlucks creates not just a festive environment but also promotes a sense of community and shared learning. Moreover, these activities help build inter-personal relationships among colleagues in organizations that are huge and where the only interaction most people have with others is only for work. 

So, you see, through these employee engagement activities, employees learn skills that are not just beneficial to their personal lives but their professional lives as well. Introducing these skills not only fosters a happy, festive mood but also promotes employee engagement and motivation in the office. 

 Now, one may wonder why employee engagement is such an important aspect of the workplace, especially during festive seasons. The answer is simple: the impact it has on the overall productivity of the workplace and its company culture. Employees are more productive and motivated to work in places that take into account their challenges and problems, and they are more likely to be productive, motivated, and loyal to the company in the long run. 

That’s about it from our end. What are some employee engagement ideas you think we could add to this list? Let us know, and we sure hope some of these suggestions are incorporated at your workplace too. Until then, happy Christmas!