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Navigating the Festive Season: Employee Engagement Strategies

Keeping employees engaged can sometimes be a strenuous task, especially during the holiday season… but not to worry, here are a few strategies that can aid in motivating employees through the festive season.

  • Flexible scheduling:

We all know that the holiday season comes with personal commitments, therefore offering flexible schedules or remote work options can demonstrate understanding and support for your employees’ work-life balance. This flexibility allows them to manage their responsibilities while enjoying the holiday season.

  • Team building activities:

Organize holiday-themed team-building activities to promote camaraderie and boost morale. Whether it’s a virtual Secret Santa, a festive decorating contest or a potluck lunch. Not only will these activities create a sense of unity and shared celebration among your team but is also the thing to get everyone in the holiday spirit and covert a holiday ‘Grinch” or two.

  • Express gratitude:

Taking the time to express appreciation for your employees’ hard work throughout the year can make employees feel valued and recognized. A personalized note, a small token of appreciation or a heartfelt holiday message will do just the trick and go a long way.

  • Holiday Décor and Atmosphere:

Transform the workplace into a festive and welcoming space. To create an overall atmosphere that reflects the joy of the season, decorating the office or playing holiday music will do just that. A visually appealing and festive environment can positively impact the mood and energy in the workplace.

  • Encourage Time Off:

Recognize that everyone deserves a break during the holiday season and encourage employees to take the time they need to rest and recharge. This will contribute to their well-being, help in maintaining productivity and prevent burnout in the long run.

  • Share Success and Goals

Reflect on the achievements of the year and set positive expectations for the upcoming one. By sharing the success stories and discussing future goals will give employees a sense of purpose and collective accomplishment, which motivates employees to stay engaged and committed.

By implementing these strategies, you can create a workplace that not only acknowledges the holiday season but actively embraces it as an opportunity to strengthen team bonds and boost employee morale. Ultimately, a festive and supportive work environment contributes to a positive company culture that lasts beyond the holiday season.

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Mental Health Awareness Week

This week is Mental Health Awareness week, and this year the Mental Health Foundation is focussing on anxiety.

All of us will have felt anxiety at one time or another, sometime during our lives

Anxiety is a normal emotion in us all, but sometimes it can get out of control and become a mental health problem.

Lots of things can lead to feelings of anxiety, including exam pressures, relationships, starting a new job (or losing one) or other big life events. We can also get anxious when it comes to things to do with money and not being able to meet our basic needs, like heating our home or buying food.

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems we can face. In a recent mental health survey we carried out around stress, anxiety and hopelessness over personal finances, a quarter of adults said they felt so anxious that it stopped them from doing the things they want to do some or all of the time. Six in ten adults feel this way, at least some of the time. On a positive note, anxiety can be made easier to manage.

Focusing on anxiety for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week will increase people’s awareness and understanding of anxiety by providing information on the things that can help prevent it from becoming a problem. At the same time, we will keep up the pressure to demand change – making sure that improving mental health is a key priority for the government and society as a whole.

If your feelings of anxiety are not going away, are having a negative impact on your life, or often prevent you from doing things you need or want to do, seek support. Speak to your GP or healthcare professional about the support available in your area or contact a helpline service.

Anxiety UK

Anxiety UK was established in 1970 and is run by and for those with anxiety, offering an extensive range of support services designed to help support those affected by anxiety disorders, anxiety and anxiety-based depression.

Services available include:

Helpline services – 03444 775 774, open from 9:30am to 17:30pm Mon to Friday, along with a text service 07537 416905 and ‘Ask Anxia’ chatbot service, available 24/7 for all anxiety queries at anxietyuk.org.uk.

Anxiety UK also offer fast access to a range of psychological therapy services, including counselling, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), clinical hypnotherapy & Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, with appointments available in person, online and by telephone.

Anxiety UK also run a range of courses and groups including a popular Art for Anxiety Relief (AfAR) course, anxiety management courses, and online peer-led anxiety support groups.

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Winning the War on Talent

When it comes to talent recruitment, small businesses can often be at a disadvantage. You may lack the budget and resources of larger employers, making it difficult to compete for top talent in your industry. However, there are strategies a small business can use to level the playing field and attract the best candidates. In this blog post, we’ll explore how small businesses can compete for talent against bigger employers.

When you know why you’re in business and what you’re trying to achieve, it can help you attract the best talent. Make sure your mission statement is clear, concise, and easily understood by everyone. Show your team that they will be part of something special and that their work will have an impact.

By getting clear on your why, you can attract and retain the right people to help your business grow.

Flexibility in working patterns are a high priority for many people, such as the option of remote working, hybrid working or even job sharing. Give employees the freedom to choose when and where they want to work, providing them with more control over their lives. Other options to  create a positive work/ life balance include offering generous vacation policies and allowing employees to take time off for personal reasons. Employees appreciate knowing that their employer values their work/ life balance, and this can go a long way in making employees feel valued and appreciated.

It is important for small businesses to create an environment that encourages personal and professional development. This can be achieved by providing training opportunities, encouraging team building activities, and offering mentorship programs. Such initiatives can help employees feel supported and motivated in their job, which can lead to higher job satisfaction and better performance.

Retention of staff is about the whole package that you can offer. Keep benchmarking your pay and benefits, and perhaps offer a changing, flexible personal package to meet the different life stages of your teams. This could include benefits such as holidays, pensions, childcare and healthcare.

A good way for small businesses to level the playing field and compete with bigger employers is to focus on skills and talent rather than purely qualifications when recruiting. By focusing on what a candidate can bring to the table from their past experiences, small businesses can ensure that they are getting the best candidate for the job, no matter what kind of budget they have.

Plus, look out for awards and citations which will flag you as an excellent employer. The Times- “Best Places to Work” awards or business awards in your field or local area are a good place to start. Winning these kinds of awards will raise your profile and help to attract and keep great people.

To keep people long term, look at investing in career progression and leadership opportunities for your team. The opportunity to take on greater responsibility, be involved and move up within the organisation keeps people engaged in your business longer rather than looking elsewhere.

If you can bring together some, if not all, of these initiatives, then you will start to win the war on talent and build your dream team.

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The 5 Best Ways to Engage and Keep Your Team

Two of every five workers who switched jobs over the past year are looking for work again, according to a new survey published by consulting firm Grant Thornton [1].

So how can you boost morale and ensure your team remains engaged and motivated? Keeping your team happy and productive is essential for the success of your business. In this blog post, we’ll cover five of the best methods to engage and keep your team motivated and successful. Read on to learn more about how you can maximize your team’s potential!

1. One of the most effective ways to engage and keep your team is to offer them opportunities for training and development allowing them to continuously learn new skills and stay up to date with industry trends. Additionally, by investing in their growth, you demonstrate that you value their contributions and provide them with a sense of security and stability in their job.

2. Open communication is key to any successful team. When your team members feel they can openly share their ideas and concerns, they’ll be more likely to feel engaged and connected with the company. Encouraging open communication means creating a safe environment where everyone can voice their opinions without fear of judgment or repercussions.

3. Creating a positive work-life balance is essential to keeping your team engaged and productive. Studies have shown that workers who feel their work-life balance is under control are more likely to report higher levels of job satisfaction and better overall performance.

4. To promote a positive work-life balance, it’s important to consider the individual needs of your team members. Do they need flexible work hours to attend to personal commitments? Can you offer working from home options for some staff members? Encouraging employees to take breaks throughout the day is also important for productivity. Providing an area for relaxation, or even just encouraging employees to take a walk around the block, can help them stay refreshed and focused.

5. Recognising and rewarding good work is an essential part of employee engagement. It can help motivate employees, build morale, and increase job satisfaction. This can be done through a variety of methods, from verbal praise to monetary bonuses. Simple gestures like hosting a team lunch or organising a team-building event can help foster team unity and build morale, which in turn can lead to increased engagement and job satisfaction.

By investing in your employees, you can create a positive, productive work environment where employees feel supported and valued. Ultimately, this will lead to morale boosting, increased job satisfaction, loyalty to the company, and improved team performance.

We work with the Investors in People (IIP) framework to help organisations become up to 21% more profitable and teams become up to 17% more engaged. 89% of our organisations claim they have a more motivated workforce as a result of working with IIP.

[1] Source: “The war for talent’ continues. 40% of recent job switchers are again looking for a new position, survey finds”, CNBC, 11 April 2022

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How to Make Sure Your Office Christmas Party Doesn’t End in Tears

The office Christmas party is meant to be a fun way to reward staff for all their hard work over the year, but it can quickly become a PR and HR nightmare if someone posts inappropriate photos or videos to social media. Unfortunately, this kind of situation is becoming more and more common as people become more attached to their phones. In this blog post, we’ll look at how employers can make sure their office Christmas party stays off social media and out of the public eye.

The holidays can be a great time to gather with colleagues and let off some steam, but it’s important to remember that what happens at the office Christmas party doesn’t always stay at the office Christmas party. With the proliferation of smartphones, it’s easier than ever for embarrassing moments or photographs to end up on social media and potentially damage an individual or a company’s reputation.

Here are some tips for making sure your office Christmas party doesn’t end up on social media:

  1. Remind staff not to take any photos or videos: Remind staff ahead of time that it is against company policy to take photos or videos at the office Christmas party and that any such content should be kept private.
  2. If you want to record the event for the Company, appoint someone for example from the marketing team to take suitable images that can be used formally.
  3. Discourage inappropriate behaviour: Make sure staff know that you do not condone any type of inappropriate behaviour at the office Christmas party, such as getting excessively drunk or engaging in lewd behaviour. The number of sexual harassment cases following Christmas parties is on the rise and HR must investigate and take action if it is a Company event.
  4. Encourage staff to think before they post: Remind staff to think twice before posting anything on social media, it will be seen by your boss and others in the company. Consider how they and the Company will be viewed.
  5. Finally, encourage people to look out for one another, ensuring everyone gets home safely.

By following these simple tips, you can make sure that your office Christmas party remains just between the people who attended it and does not end up on social media. Encourage people to have fun but do so responsibly!

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The 4-Day Week – Pilot

What is all the fuss about?

The Government  have been piloting a scheme to trial a 4-day working week and people have been asking me what it is all about.

Prompted by the demand for flexible working, the need to keep good people, along with the pressure to provide work-life balance and reduce overhead costs, about 70 companies and 3,300 staff have been giving the 4-day week a 6 month try out.

What it is not – is compressed hours. This is the requirement to do for example: 4 x 10-hour days instead of  5 x 8-hour days. This keeps your pay and working week the same.

The proposal is that by working smarter and more productively,  people can work 4 out of their 5 days at the usual number of hours but yet get paid for 5 days work. This is effectively a 20% pay rise based on hourly rate alone!

Clearly then there are benefits for employees. What about employers? The feedback from this pilot so far is showing that people are maintaining their productivity. Employers may be able to reduce overheads in terms of office space, heat and light. Combined with the increase in hybrid working and working from home, employers are maintaining their customer services, expanding their catchment area for talent recruitment and are able to offer more attractive overall packages to retain key people. Reducing presenteeism and filling up the time for the sake of the extra pay can prove its weight in gold to employers and employees alike.

From the trial- which is due to finish in December – about 86% of employers say they are likely to continue with this working pattern and 88% say it is working well.

However, the feedback indicates that smaller employers and businesses are struggling more to cover the hours needed to meet customer demand and deal with handovers.   Only time will tell if this trend towards the shorter working week, already popular in some other larger developed countries, will become more of a norm for the rest of us.

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Why Now?

Why would King Charles issue redundancy notices to staff at Clarence House only 5 days after the Queen has died?

Clarence House (Image by ChrisO)

As I finally tear myself away from watching the funeral proceedings of the late Queen Elizabeth, my thoughts turn this recent story in the newspapers.

In spite of the widely reported redundancy notices being given only 5 days after the Queens’s death – this is not entirely accurate. When you have a household of 100 employees, there is a requirement to have 45 days’ notice that jobs are going to be “At Risk” of redundancy. This marks the start of a period of consultation. Now is the time for the employer and the employee to look at any alternative jobs, and if there is to be a restructure, to give people a chance to see how and where they may fit in. I understand that there is a commitment to find as many people as possible alternative employment in other Royal households.

It is only after this period of consultation and after people have been fitted in to other vacancies or jobs that are available, that any remaining job holders may be issued with a formal notice of redundancy.

As King Charles will be required to move into Buckingham Palace, it is likely that things will need to change at Clarence House.  Some jobs may be transferred to Buckingham Palace, and it may be unknown what staff structure will be retained at Clarence House. This “At Risk” notice was probably issued to enable these conversations to start.

Many people felt that this was a heartless approach as the country was in a period of mourning. I do agree with this, but I also know that The King’ household will want to do everything by the book, which means giving enough time and notice to do things properly.  

A restructure, job interviews and transfers could take several months. If they waited too long to start, this process could take up until Christmas which is also not a good time to finally receive a redundancy notice.

My advice to anyone receiving an “At Risk” letter is to seek advice from their Trade Union or staff representatives and to work as closely as possible with their employer to find ways to minimise the loss of jobs and positions. Look for alternative solutions, part time working, job share, any other innovative ways of working you can think of, to minimise job losses.

Our thoughts are with the staff of Clarence House and to our new King during this very difficult time of transition.

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High Days and Holidays – Who pays when extra Public Holidays are granted?

In June 2022 we all cheered and celebrated as our dear Queen Elizabeth celebrated 70 years on the throne. An additional bank holiday was given to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee.

Sadly, this September she has left us, having served us so faithfully for all those years. It is likely that the British Government may announce a day of mourning or an additional bank holiday. Many businesses will take the decision to close at other times as well in a mark of respect, and to deal with grief.

Next year- at some point- Charles III will be crowned as King, and there will be much ceremony and celebrating once again.

So, as an employer do you have to grant the additional holiday and do you have to pay your staff? As with all of these questions – the answer is …it depends…

If, as an employer, you have decided to close your business on a normal workday as a mark of respect- then yes you will be paying the staff as usual.

When the government grants an additional public holiday then we need to look at our contracts of employment to decide how we will deal with this additional holiday. Which of these circumstances fits your situation?

  1. Your contract is for 28 days holidays including bank and public holidays.
    The additional day should come from the employee’s holiday allowance. You are free to give an additional paid day off if you wish.
  2. Your contract is for 20 days Plus bank and public holidays.
    If there is an additional awarded day off – your contract means you should pay that day in addition to the usual days off.
  3. Your contract is for 20 days plus these listed 8 bank holidays (Christmas and Boxing day, New Year’s day, Good Friday and Easter Monday, Early and Late May bank holidays, Late August bank holiday).
    In this case an additional day should be awarded and paid for by the employer.

Regardless of the numbers of days involved – we hope this is helpful. If your situation is more complicated than we have outlined (above), feel free to contact us for some individual advice if you need to.

Email Helen or contact her via 02922 805 930.

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Financial Wellbeing Now Top Priority

Throughout March the CIPD had a strong voice on some key issues in the world of work. They are calling on employers to look at ways to improve the financial security of their workers as the cost-of-living continues to bite.

It is important to encourage people to want to work and to feel that working their way out of poverty is both possible and worth doing. Long hours and low wages only fuel a reliance on the state, which is an unhealthy long-term position for everyone. The increasing cost bases are hitting employers as well so thinking about employee financial security could seem like an additional burden. The minimum wage has just increased nearly 8% and supply chains are piling on increases in transport, raw materials and energy as well.

Why should employers take action?

Supporting your people to achieve a decent standard of living is an essential element of good work and responsible business. Research shows, that when we’re worried about money, our work suffers. Encouraging conversations about money worries helps people feel more confident and empowered, and more ready to face what life and work throws at them.

Businesses who pay the voluntary real Living Wage report several business benefits including improved recruitment and retention and better relations between staff and managers.

So, what can employers do? 

The most recent Employer survey from the CIPD in March 22 found the following elements to be the most important in providing financial security for employees:

  • provide a fair and liveable wage (96%)
  • support in-work progression to help people increase their earning potential (87%)
  • support financial wellbeing by offering and signposting benefits and financial education (71%).

Have a think about what can be offered to add value without adding hugely to your cost base. For example, partnering with local businesses who can offer your people an Independent Financial Planning Advice Service, or an independent household bills review is a good start. If these things can be done during the working day at your site, the convenience will be a boost to staff, there are possible savings for your people and you are also supporting your local business community.

There are plenty of options for supporting your teams and many people will have different priorities depending on their stage in life and own personal circumstances. Utilize your staff surveys or consultative groups to feedback the priorities for your own business.

At Oyster HR we always suggest that you use survey data, appraisal or supervision feedback along with your HR Dashboard performance to help shape and inform your ongoing HR Strategy. That of course means you need to be asking the right kinds of questions in the first place.

For a no obligation discussion about these or other pressing HR matters – we are happy to chat! [email protected]

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