by The 5-9 Crew
It’s been a challenging year and we want you to end 2021 on a high note by spreading the Christmas cheers far and wide 🎅🎄
What is Christmas to you?
For us, Christmas isn’t that one day. It’s the entire build-up. It’s wearing loud and bonkers jumpers. Going to Christmas markets, and blaring Christmas songs. It’s a time to celebrate with family and friends and appreciate the past 12 months!
There are many who would argue that Christmas is a horrid time of year that’s become far too commercial, but once you consider the music, the food, the lights and decorations, and the festivities, there’s really no denying that it’s special.
What can you do to spread Christmas cheer?
The festive season can be a special, yet difficult time of year. The expense of shopping, those end of year deadlines, the struggle to maintain morale whilst at work. We all experience these things in one way or another, so it’s important that we have things in place to combat them.
Celebrate your Staff!
Find the true meaning of the holidays by bringing employees together to celebrate what they’ve accomplished professionally, as well as on a personal level. An end of year awards ceremony or Christmas party should do the trick!
Indulge the Team!
People love to eat—especially during the holidays. So do something special at the office to enjoy all the delicious goodies that are available during the holidays. Chuck on a Christmas Classic, serve hot chocolate, have a holiday-themed pot-luck, host a gingerbread house decorating competition(!). Anything that gets people in the holiday spirit!
Listen & Give Thanks!
There are few things more motivating for an employee than knowing their employer has a genuine interest in their lives, and there are few better opportunities to demonstrate this than during the festive season.
Every day employees come to work with something on their mind – some worry, fear, or personal issue they are dealing with. For some, work is a relief from their personal issues, but that work needs to be meaningful to them and employees need to be productive. Managers should keep that in mind and do their best to make employees feel valued and cared about.
What matters to most are the simple things – saying thank you, perhaps through a hand-written note or giving someone a few extra hours off work at the end of a busy week. Or even a 4-day working week throughout December!
Remember a happy worker works harder (roughly 13% harder if you’re interested in the science). Promoting emotional happiness in the workplace is a great way to spread cheer this holiday season and all throughout the year.
Glam up the Office!
TRIM UP!! Transform your workplace into a magical land full of lights, decorations, good music, and of course… a glorious Christmas tree! If you don’t have a massive budget for decking out the halls, asking employees for donations is a great way to accrue a fantastic selection of decorations and gives your employees an excuse to offload some of their decorations… That is, assuming they’re like us and buy way too many new decorations EVERY year!
Get Creative!
A low-cost way of having festive fun is to get crafty! Ask your employees to design a Christmas card or decorate a bauble, you could even turn it into a competition! Or how about holding a session of making paper chains or cutting snowflakes at lunchtime. It’s the simple things that make the biggest difference! Plus this is yet another way to glam the office up on a budget.
Be Charitable!
As it is the season of giving, you could organise a charitable activity for your staff. How about holding a collection for local food banks, or collecting toys to donate to charity such as The Toy Box Project. Even a few hours volunteering at a local event. All of your charitable efforts won’t go unrewarded, there’s strong evidence that organisations who take the time to engage in corporate social responsibility reap these great benefits. Christmas is a time for giving after all!
Have yourself a Merry Christmas!
So, there you have it! Six simple, yet effective ideas that are guaranteed to boost morale and spread Christmas cheer! It’s always good practice to be mindful of those employees who may not celebrate Christmas, though most of the above with the exception of points 1, 4, and 5 should be inclusive to all.
The greatest advice we can give however is to ENJOY YOURSELVES!
Merry Christmas Everyone!
