Help Your Employees Juggle Work and the Holidays

Why do stress levels rise during the holidays?

Statistics show that nearly half of the workforce is already stressed out before the holidays arrive. When you pile gift buying, financial worries and the need for a 25-hour day on top of meeting job deadlines and other responsibilities, the holiday season can be less than merry for a large number of your employees.

So what can you do to keep morale and productivity up, and anxiety and depression low, in the workplace? Give the gift of time! Here's how:

Provide employees with flexible scheduling options to accommodate added demands outside the office. For example, offer telecommuting or flex-time as an option once or twice a week during the holidays. You can even surprise them with a half day off once or twice during the shopping season, provided deadlines are still being met. Your employees will enjoy having a couple of extra hours to holiday shop without the after work crowds, wrap gifts, or just take a time out for themselves. They'll not only thank you, but they'll be more refreshed when they return to work.

Reprioritize your team's work schedule. Take a good look at your list of projects. Do all of them absolutely have to be done before the end of the year? If you can extend some of those deadlines until after the first of the year, you'll be alleviating some of the pressure on your team.

Allow people to get some of their holiday to-dos done at work. Turn one of your conference rooms into a gift wrapping room. Fill it with wrapping paper, bows, and all the trimmings. Encourage people to bring their gifts to work and wrap during breaks. Not only will they be glad to get this chore off their lists, but getting your employees together in a festive, relaxed environment encourages team building. You can also allow people to holiday shop over the Internet during their lunch breaks--and agree to accept delivered packages at the office to keep them safe from curious recipients!

Schedule your holiday celebrations during normal business hours. After-hours events may create conflicts with occasions involving family and friends and, of course, shopping. As much as your employees may appreciate a fancy dinner party out at any other time of the year, during the holiday season it can seem like one more stress on an overstretched schedule or budget. In fact, many companies are switching to New Year's parties because December is so full of activity. A New Year's party is a great way to get everyone on board with new initiatives and celebrate the past year's wins. It's also non-denominational, which helps everyone feel more included.

Consider making holidays "floating" so people can honor their religious and cultural traditions with paid time off. Some of your employees may celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Ramadan, yet most organizations offer paid time off for Christmas and New Year's Day only.

What else can you do?

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) asked human resource professionals, "Does your company engage in any of the following practices to help alleviate holiday-related stress among your employees?" The actions most frequently cited were:

• 51 percent schedule holiday events during normal business hours.
• 39 percent remind employees of their Employee Assistance Program.
• 33 percent show appreciation for employees who work during a holiday.
• 32 percent encourage casual dress for holiday parties.
• 30 percent provide holiday food.
• 23 percent give the quarterly or annual bonus early for holiday shopping.
• 20 percent provide floating days for holidays worked.
• 14 percent offer reduced hours so employees can run errands.
• 13 percent allow time for volunteer opportunities during work hours.
• 8 percent provide extra shifts for people to earn holiday money.
• 1 percent cover child care for employee errands.
• 15 percent of employers provide other employee perks and opportunities.