It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… and what better way to celebrate than to reward your staff for the hard work they’ve put in this year! In this week’s article, we look at a few creative ways that you can reward your staff this Christmas.
Everyone likes to be recognised for their efforts, and Christmas is an excellent opportunity to do just that. It doesn’t have to be an expensive exercise. If you don’t want to run to the cost of gift vouchers, you could print out special certificates such as “leave an hour early” or simply to say, “Thanks for doing a great job”. And they don’t have to be based on performance targets. Instead, focus on the human aspects of what people bring to the job or just make it fun with awards for “Most Encouraging Work Colleague” or “Best Bringer of Cake”. Make sure everyone gets involved and feels part of the ceremonial celebration.
Often, the supporting staff, such as the delivery guys, cleaners, and IT, get overlooked. Typically, they will be working behind the scenes while the frontline or customer-facing staff claim the glory. So, Christmas is the perfect opportunity to recognise their hard work and give them the limelight. You can make their day by surprising them with a small gift and a round of applause.
Nothing brings people together more than Christmas and food! So why not select a day and invite everyone to bring in their “speciality dish” for a team lunch in the boardroom? An excellent teambuilding opportunity, you could also get everyone to (anonymously) vote for their favourite dish of the day and give a bottle of bubbly to the winner!
If you have staff working on Christmas Eve, it is the perfect opportunity to ditch the office wear and have a little fun! Invite your team to come into work dressed as an elf, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, or wearing their favourite jingle bells jumper!
A great incentive to help people feel valued and rewarded is to let them leave early. If your staff are working right up until Christmas, why not shut up shop after lunch to give them an extra few hours to hang the kid’s stockings and prepare that milk and cookies for Santa. This would be especially appreciated by employees with children at home, who will be excited to begin the festivities!
With mornings dark and cold, Christmas is the perfect excuse to go the extra mile to lift spirits and keep morale high. While it’s important to keep your employees engaged throughout the year, as we explored in last month’s blog, supporting your employees during the winter months is even more key.
Whatever you decide to do, make it fun. Happy and rewarded staff make for a better workplace and higher productivity.
There are many ways you can help and support your employees, here at Vero HR, we offer an employee benefits consultancy to meet the needs of your business and employees. For an informal chat, please do not hesitate to give us a call on 01733 830830 or email us at enquiries@verohr.co.uk.
