Office Culture: Three Tips to Boost Post-Holiday Motivation

Returning to work after back-to-back Holidays can be a tough transition. Here are a few tips to help your employees (and yourself!) get into the work groove.

For the most part, the holidays are a joyous time where employees can take a few days to spend time with family, friends, travel, etc. However, the holidays are also overwhelmingly stressful. Most likely, employees already worked their tail-off to hit those end-of-year goals and wrap-up any lingering projects. Then they go home, decorate their entire house, spend way too much money, spend three days with Aunt Margaret and get out of any sense of routine they had. So, how do you switch from absolute chaos back to work-place grind? Well, I am not saying it is easy, but here are a few tips to help ease the transition.

1. Do not plan anything on employee's first day back to the office.

Yes, I said it. I see you goal-driven business owner trying to take on the world January 2nd. Just don't. Everyone will need a day (at least) to check emails, return phone calls, and tidy up to-do lists. Give everyone at least one day to collect their thoughts and start on a clean slate. 

In addition to not planning anything on the first day back, give employee's grace when they are taking extra coffee breaks and chatting with fellow team members. One day of low productivity will not kill the entire year-or even the entire month or week. Employee's will appreciate the slack while they get back into the full work-day groove. 

2. Schedule a team meeting the second day back.

Do not skip #1. Wait until one full work day has passed and schedule a team meeting. For this meeting, you are only talking about check-ins and goals. That is it. We are not dragging out all of the dirty laundry we left in 2022. What do I mean?

Check-ins: Ask your employee's how their time off was and how they felt their first day back went. This will help you get up-to-speed on anything traumatic that happened to them while they were away, and will also allow you to gauge whether they need just one more day to reset before diving into 2023 projects. As I stated before, the holidays can be intense. So doing a quick check-in on employee's personal lives will go a long way. 

Goals: Now this is not "bring me every single item you plan to accomplish this year." This is the beginning of a conversation. Have a worksheet or agenda you can pass out to each employee for them to work on and bring back to a later meeting. I suggest using a S.M.A.R.T. goals worksheet as a guide.

Also, we are not biting off more than we can chew here. Try to keep the time frame 1-3 months. These should be personal goals specific to each employee. 

Now, if you have spent your entire break setting goals for the business, you may share some goals with employees on a department-specific level (we aren't over loading employees with information that does not apply to them). Outline a few major company goals and ask for feedback on how each employee foresees the team reaching this goal. 

3. Plan Something FUN

Here I am thinking a coffee, hot chocolate or tea bar, catered lunch for the team meeting or even an ice breaker about everyone's favorite memory from the break. Remember, your employees have not had to focus for 8 hours straight for a few days, they will need a brain break this week. Also, going into the new year showing appreciation will set a positive tone for the entire year. If you have a large team or multiple departments, appoint a 'master of motivations'. This person can help you plan and execute employee motivations for return to office but also throughout the entire year. 

Let's make 2023 the best year yet by pacing ourselves, showing grace and remembering that we are all human. Let's put the Resource back in Human Resources. Because HR happens, but the HR Lady is here to help you navigate through it.

If you or your organization is in need of additional resources or expert consulting, OnBoard, LLC is always here to help. You can reach us by phone at 573-987-0652 or on our website www.onboardhro.com