You have to be kind to be kind – Employee wellbeing through the Holidays

The old saying “you have to be cruel to be kind” may not be the best advice around the holiday period. Research has found that employee stress and depression levels increase over the Christmas and New Year period. While we understand that giving everyone leave over this time is not always an option, there are ways in which you can support an employee’s wellbeing throughout the festive season. 

During Christmas, it is not uncommon to experience financial pressures from debts, gifts and celebrations; family pressures due to hosting or attending gatherings (or a lack thereof). To add to the mounting social pressures, work pressures accumulate as New Year deadlines approach.
The mental health (and general wellbeing) of you and your team is vital to ensure you are able to contribute creatively and productively, and avoid droning on to get through difficult times where your efforts and output (and let’s not forget satisfaction) may suffer. 

Here are 3 tips to motivate you and your team to safeguard general mental health at this time of year:

1. Keep an eye out for red flags
While it is normal to experience a degree of pressure and frustration at this time of year, it’s important to note when this may become a larger problem for some employees. If a colleague (or yourself) appears sleep deprived, aggressive, anti-social, or negative, or may just appear down, this may be a sign that the stress they are experiencing is at an unreasonable level.  

If you see someone acting out of character for a long period of time, let them know you’ve noticed their behaviour is different and ask them how things are going. Be prepared to hear the response when you ask someone if they are ‘OK’, whether their response is positive or negative. They do not expect you to be able to fix their problems; all you need to do is listen as often people just need to talk something through. 

2. A little empathy or gratitude goes a long way
It cannot be overstated – a simple word of appreciation or understanding can motivate and encourage anyone. You don’t need to organise an elaborate event to thank work colleagues, as genuine personal encouragement can be enough to brighten their day or change their perspective. Go beyond sending an email - genuine communications are best done face-to-face; or, if you are competing with different locations, then a phone call is appropriate. 

3. If possible, review workloads
Stress occurs when our demands exceed our resources. Quite simply, staff may not have enough time or the resources to get the job done to the required standard. Pay close attention to whether work is being completed late or to a reduced standard than normal. Issues such as these may occur due to under-staffing and over-loading rather than a lack of enthusiasm or competence. Communicate these concerns with employees and investigate the cause of any issues. A good analysis to establish the root-cause of an issue is asking “why” 5 times to a response.

While Christmas is a stressful time of year for many, effective management through communicating with and supporting those around you can have a snowball effective to put the peace, love and joy (and the employee productivity and satisfaction) back into the festive season!