Handling Disengaged Employees during the Holidays

With the holiday season approaching, it is not uncommon to find yourself facing more disengaged employees than usual. The holidays are a very stressful time for many people. Buying gifts, cooking large meals – these things take lots of extra money. As an employee’s stress level rises, he is more likely to pull away from his workplace environment. He has worries on his mind, so he disengages himself from his job and starts performing tasks practically on autopilot.

As an employer, you can simply wait for the holidays to pass and things to get back to normal. On the other hand, you can take a proactive approach and try to find out what might make your employees feel more engaged with their jobs. Getting to the root of the problem does not have to be difficult. You can have your employees submit a satisfaction survey. These surveys will tell you how your workers are feeling, which areas of their jobs are bringing them stress, and which areas may need some change. Your workers are already feeling stress because of the impending holidays.

You can take charge of the situation and find ways to relieve some of that stress. Perhaps your workers are worried about finances – maybe the survey reveals that one of their concerns is the lack of a holiday bonus. If it is financially feasible, you can crunch the numbers to provide them with a holiday bonus – even if it is not in the form of cash, but food. Satisfaction surveys will help you uncover potential stressors and give you the chance to relieve them – the result: happier, more engaged workers. Be a smart employer and take action when it comes to keeping your employees’ stress levels down through the madness of the holidays.