Supporting employees during winter holidays in the workplace

Winter holidays are always a whirlwind of emotions, positive and negative. While for many it’s a chance to reconnect with family and friends, relax, and gain strength for the new year, a lot of people find themselves struggling. This can be mental health related, like feelings of loneliness or grief, due to financial issues, or stress.

Would your employees benefit from occupational health support this holiday season though wellbeing days, training, or shareable resources? Reach out today to learn how occupational health can support mental health during holidays in the workplace!

What can affect employee wellbeing during holidays in the workplace?

Mental health support for employees is essential, but winter holidays is one of the periods where issues escalate, so it becomes emergent as well. To ensure your employees are supported though these times, we’ve decided to explore what problems they might encounter and how you can help.

There are many factors that can cause additional stress in the time preceding the holidays in the workplace and during them.

• Pressure to meet deadlines in the shortened month before the end of the year.
• Financial pressures associated with celebrations such as food, travel, presents, and others.
• Heightened socialisation requirements and in some cases in an unhealthy family environment.
• Loneliness due to inability to see family and friends or due to lack thereof.
• Social isolation due to lack of awareness or recognition of their traditional/cultural holidays.
• Stress, burnout, and other mental health issue exacerbation due to added stress and pressures.

These also have an effect on employee ability to perform their effectively, productively, and with high morale and engagement. In addition, employees who might be feeling undervalued or unrealised will be more inclined to leave under the stressful conditions.

What can you do to boost employee wellbeing during winter holidays in the workplace?

Consider financial wellbeing

With the cost-of-living crisis, ever-rising rent and heating costs, and other never-ending problems, employees are already exceptionally stressed about finances.

With holidays putting an even bigger strain on resources, employees will be faced with a bigger burden.

Wellbeing services, such as cashback offers, discounts, and financial advice can alleviate some of that stress. If you provide access to any of such programmes, it might be worth highlighting them again in case they might have been missed. In addition, ensure any wages, bonuses, and overtime hours are paid on time. Consider providing an option to receive a portion of those in advance, for example if your workers usually get paid at the end of the month an advance in the middle of the month can provide some much-needed support for holiday shopping.

Assess workload and deadlines

The end of the calendar year is often a busy time for everyone, and for some businesses it will be the busiest time of the year. This is often where budgets are finalised, projects are wrapped up, and whether goals have been met is determined.

In addition to the increased workload, it’s a shorter month for many with bank holidays and days off, meaning there’s less time than usual to address all the pending tasks.

It’s vital for line managers to have conversations with their teams – questions about whether the workload is manageable should be posed, as well as support offered to come up with solutions to ensure stress is kept down and employees remain productive. Consider flexible schedules, getting help from other departments who might have a lighter workload this time of year, or postponing some jobs until the new year.

Promote mental wellbeing

With all the stress, maintaining mental wellbeing is extremely important. Consider sending a company-wide email to remind your employees of the resources that are available to them, such as the EAP, workplace counselling, materials from your occupational health provider, and others. Resources that can be accessed independently, such as articles on a wellbeing app, can be particularly important due to the amount of off time.

If your business has Mental Health First Aiders among the workers and line managers, their ability to have a conversation and signpost to appropriate resources or gather feedback about how employees feel can be instrumental to maintain wellbeing during winter holidays in the workplace.

Encourage time off

There could be any number of reasons why employees don’t utilise their days off – the comfort of routine, time-sensitive deliverables, managers and colleagues that can’t help but reach out, desire to perform well, etc.

Taking their allocated time off should be encouraged – try to lead by example, disconnect when you are on holiday and try not to answer any queries. While this might seem counterproductive, taking time to unplug and relax actually promotes mental wellbeing, physical health, and productivity in the long run.

Consider following the growing trend of businesses offering a company-wide week off between Christmas and New Year. This not only encourages even the most invested employees to disconnect, but also allows them to plan in advance, knowing they are guaranteed this time away from work and are not going to be spending the winter holidays in the workplace.

Share health and safety advice and best practices

In addition to all the pressures of the festive season, no one wants to be burdened with ill health. Share cold weather advice, viral infection prevention strategies, encourage sick employees to take sick leave or at the very least work from home if possible.

Remember that situations are unique

Different people may have different struggles during holidays in the workplace. It’s important to check in with your workforce and see where they’re at. If you know that some people might be unhappy this holiday season, consider scaling back on the celebrations. Ask your employees if they would prefer a big Christmas party, or maybe if they would rather have the day off or have smaller events throughout December.

It would seem especially tone-deaf to organise big festivities when employees are burnt out and under resourced when the party budget could have alleviated that.

Explore alternative ways to celebrate, like volunteering, donating to charity, or investing in wellbeing resources for the following year.

Winter holidays are a wonderful time of year to relax and recharge, but it can be a struggle for many. By checking in with your employees and considering their struggles, you can ensure the resources you provide, and your budget, is utilised in the most effective way possible. For shareable wellbeing resources, subscribe to our wellbeing newsletter and reach to ask if you have any questions!