Christmas can be a really difficult time to keep your team inspired and, after the tough year we have all had, budgets or restrictions may not allow for the traditional Christmas party or ‘thank you’ for your employees.
We at Stream understand the importance of staff engagement. Your team are the people who drive every part of your business, not only engaging with external clients but also in keeping internal staff morale and encouragement high. Thanking your team for their hard work has been proven to benefit both the employer and employees, along with providing a healthy Return on Investment.
So, as an alternative approach, how about considering some different ways to incentivise your team through this winter season, such as:
1. Experiences or rewards that your team can share with their loved ones
This year a lot of focus has been put on spending time with family and loved ones. If you’re thinking of gifting your employees with hard benefits, then why not make them something that they can share. Ideas range from days out and family activities to food and wine hampers to be indulged in by many.
2. Donate to a charity of their choice
Charities have struggled more this year than usual as the pandemic has hit everyone hard and in different ways. Instead of gifting a material item to employees, a donation to a charity of their choice can be a really gracious and appreciative way to give back to those who need it most this Christmas.
3. Get in the Christmas spirit
Getting involved with Christmas festivities is a great way to get people motivated and excited and can make ‘going to work’ less arduous. There are so many options of how you can bring Christmas cheer to your team:
o Join in with Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day. It’s a great way to have fun and spread cheer - and the proceeds all go to a great cause. This year it is taking place on 11th December 2020, so why not encourage everyone to don their best Christmas Jumper and donate too.
o Having a ‘work-based’ Secret Santa is a perfect way to get the team together, whether it’s between smaller teams or the wider business. Get each staff member to pick a name, set a low budget to make it accessible for all, and then pick a day for the gift swap to take place.
o Decorate the office or home office. This can either be a friendly activity for everyone to participate in, or you can make it exciting and competitive with a winner for the best decorated space. This will really show off the ‘Cotton-Headed Ninnymuggins’ vs the ‘Scrooges’ in the team!
4. Flexible working
As people get busier in the last few months of the year how about offering flexible working hours. This allows staff to either work earlier or later than usual business hours to help accommodate their busy schedule. This gesture can go a long way in showing appreciation for their dedicated work this year.
5. Offer support for deadlines
Whilst most of the other tips have been about physical things you can do, this last one is based on the notion of emotional support. Whilst Christmas is supposed to be a time for everyone to be merry, for some it can be stressful, along with the added pressure of end-of-year deadlines. A priceless offering can be to help someone who is in need - even if it is the smallest of things that you do to help. Remember kindness always goes a long way, not just at Christmas.
If your team do need a final push in the last quarter of the year, and you are looking for a short term one stop solution to gifting your team, then take a look at our RewardShop and use our wide range of Rewards to incentivise your team to hit their goals before the year end.
With three easy steps we can fulfil any Christmas gifting you want to do:
Step 1 Let us know who you’d like to reward
Step 2 Select the gift you want to give
Step 3 Let us fulfil the rest
Click here to view our brochure of rewards and see how we can help you this Christmas.