Helping employees make the most of their benefits in the holiday season

Wow this year has flown by! Another two weeks and Christmas will be upon us. Whilst the festive season gets most of us in a jolly mood, it also brings some concerns that could result in stress. Some worry that there are too many things to do but not enough hours in the day to get them done; in both their personal and professional lives. Others have financial concerns as December is, for the majority of people, the most expensive time of the year.

It’s a fact that 1 in 3 employees (34 per cent) stress around the holiday period as they struggle to balance work with family activities and Christmas shopping. As an employer, you are probably thinking of ways to tackle stress in the workplace and maintain the festive mood in your organisation; this will keep employees motivated and, as a result, productivity levels won’t decrease and they might even rise.

Here are some ideas that could help your employees feel more relaxed during the holiday season by making the most of their benefits:

Discount vouchers – one of the easiest ways to help your employees to budget well during the holiday season, is by encouraging them to use discount vouchers. Saving money on grocery shopping, Christmas presents, restaurants or even holidays, could be a massive help in the grand scheme of things.

Flexible working – with so many tasks to be completed before the end of the year, having flexible working hours could help employees to find a good balance between personal and professional commitments. Letting employees start early to finish early, or simply allowing them to work from home now and again, saving commuting time, could make a big difference in helping them get more organised.

Free extra holiday – the last two weeks of December tend to be quieter than usual for most companies, so why not reward your employees with an extra holiday? It will probably help take the pressure off them by knowing that they have an extra day to get their Christmas preparations organised or simply make them happy for knowing that they have an extra day to spend with family and friends.

EAP – if some employees are already finding it difficult to cope with the pressures of the holiday season, you could point them towards your employee assistant programme (EAP). This can help reduce their stress levels as well as assist in the prevention of a more serious mental health issue.

Just as important is to ensure that your employees know what is available to them. There isn’t much point in offering all these nice perks when employees don’t even know they exist or how to claim them, right? Therefore, make sure you promote your benefits efficiently using a multi-channel approach, so it reaches all of your workforce.

9 out of 10 HR leaders face challenges when communicating their benefits package to employees. If you are amongst them, then you could benefit by downloading our free report entitled ‘The workplace communication challenge’.  It highlights the challenges employers face communicating, the communication methods employers can, and should be considering, and some suggested solutions.

Happy holidays!