The holiday season can cause employees to feel stressed, leading to sickness, missed shifts, and more. Use these tips to keep employees happy and healthy in Q4 so you can start the new year on the right note.

Encourage Good Habits At Work

Encourage all employees to take their designated breaks to allow them to recharge and refocus. Promote the idea of taking a short walk, even if it's just a few laps around the parking lot.

If you have vending machines or communal food areas, replace sugary drinks and junk food with healthier options. Healthy snacks provide a better source of energy and promote better eating habits.

Promote Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance has been difficult for people to achieve this year and during the holiday season, work-life balance is even more difficult to achieve.

Consider implementing flexible scheduling options that allow your team to adjust their hours on occasion. This will enable them to remain productive while ensuring their personal lives are more manageable, creating a win-win for all involved.

Say Thank You

Stress levels decrease when employees feel appreciated. If a member of your team meets or exceeds your expectations, make sure to thank them for their effort. Often, a simple, spoken "thank you" can work wonders, or a quick note on a Post-It can brighten someone's day.

For group achievements, cater lunch or a party with cake and ice cream or provide small gifts to show appreciation. Recognizing employees boosts morale, reduces stress and enhances motivation.

Plan A Wellness Challenge

Everyone knows the holidays tend to be a time of overindulging. Trying to stop that trend won't get you very far.

Instead, plan a wellness challenge for January to give employees something to look forward to and a reason to focus on their health and well-being in the upcoming year.

Don't Be Scrooge

You receive lots of PTO requests over the holidays. While you certainly can't be left staff-less over the holidays, you don't want to be a miser about PTO, either. Offer incentives for people to work over the holidays. For example, if someone volunteers to work on December 25 or to switch shifts with someone who would like a day off in December, give those volunteers an extra day off in the new year.

You can also ensure coverage by hiring skilled temporary employees to allow your core team to have a break over the holidays.

Contact the staffing and recruiting experts at PrideStaff to access skilled temporary and contract help over the holidays to ease the workload on your staff and maintain peak productivity.