It’s widely reported and very understandable: Employee morale falls during winter. Here’s how to beat that with your employees.
The holidays have wrapped up and it’s time to start a new year, but the weather is cold and grey. If you’ve ever suffered from wintertime blues, you know what it’s like. And seasonal depression is a very real thing. The shorter days and cold temperatures that cause many of us to seek comfort indoors… it can all be very draining. As we long for the spring, this gloomy mood affects more than just our outlook on life.
Work performance can suffer in the winter
Feeling unmotivated and uninspired tends to trickle down to the workday, too. In the wintertime, workers can feel down, and their creativity and performance can suffer.
How to help unmotivated employees
So, as an employer, what can you do to help your employees past the wintertime blues? It’s all about being upbeat and positive. Try any of the following:
Celebrate your end-of-year success.
What milestones did the company accomplish in 2021? What projects did you complete? How has everyone helped the business grow? Sharing all the success and accomplishments from the previous year is a great note to start out on during Q1. Share this with your employees, celebrate and encourage them to keep up the good work.
Start new habits.
Everyone has Zoom call fatigue, let’s face it. We’re all burned out from too many meetings, especially if we’ve spent the past two years working remotely during the pandemic. Switch up routines to help employees attend fewer meetings—what could be easily handled as an email? Reduce the number of Zoom calls and replace them with conference calls, instead. Add new elements to your team meetings, such as a creative activity to get everyone’s minds going (Wordle, anyone?).
Onboard new workers the right way.
Nothing can be more intimidating (and less motivating) than the impending stress of a brand new position. Many companies open up hiring after the first of the year, when the budget has been reset. Help new workers hit the ground running by assigning mentors to help them learn and get used to their new roles. If you work with a recruiter, ask what onboarding services they offer to help new workers thrive.
Help employees achieve their dreams.
Talk regularly with your workers to see how things are going. What do they want out of their career? The beginning of the year is a perfect time to talk about career path and set learning goals. How can you help? Can they take a course or shadow another department? Do they need trial tasks to see if they’d like to try something new? Is tuition reimbursement available? All of these questions can provide information to help your employees advance in their career.
Spring will be here before you know it
But until then, try these tips to help your employees feel better and get their minds back on the task at hand. And if your business is suffering from short-staffing, this can also be draining to your workers. Staffing up is much easier when you work with a trusted partner, like HireCall. We specialize in light industrial and office/clerical workers, and if you’re in need of more hands, reach out today!
