The holiday season is one of the busiest times of year, especially with end-of-year business demands and additional family stress for some employees. Thus, it is important for businesses to establish positive workplace wellness for employees to feel happier and healthier during the holidays, and support them in their workplace environment. There are a variety of ways that businesses can ensure and establish workplace wellness during the holiday season. 

Ways To Establish Workplace Wellness 

Open communication 

By establishing open communication with employees, they will feel more comfortable and inclined to ask for help when they need it. Maintaining open communication will also establish a more productive workplace, and can encourage collaboration and feedback during a high-stress time of the year. Transparency in communication can increase employee morale within a business and establish a path for success in the new year. 

Paid Time Off 

Oftentimes, employees may feel burnt out or stressed from the demand of the holiday season. Businesses should encourage employees to take advantage of their paid time off benefits being offered to them. Promoting a positive work-life balance ensures that your employees take time to recharge and refresh, and come back to work happier, healthier, and more energized. 

Encouraging Breaks 

Working from home or in-person can often be demanding when employees are faced with consistent challenges and difficulties during their workday. By encouraging breaks during the day, employees can take time to redefine their goals, relax and recharge, and get back to work feeling more productive and motivated to achieve their goals. 

Hosting Holiday Events

The holiday season is particularly difficult for many employees who are facing challenging family situations. When businesses host holiday events, it provides employees with the opportunity to bond with their coworkers and friends in the workplace, and provide them with a sense of family that they may not experience at home. Holiday events can range from small celebrations to virtual happy hours to holiday gift exchanges. 

Listening to Employee Needs 

The holiday season can often make it difficult for employers and businesses alike to effectively listen to employees’ needs. However, by setting aside time and opportunities to do so, businesses can get a better understanding of what employees need during the holiday season to succeed. Businesses can provide wellness resources or establish wellness training programs and opportunities to better get a sense of what employees need to feel happy and productive every day. 

Encouraging Healthy Lifestyles 

During the holidays, employees’ lifestyles can often drastically change in response to high-stress situations and feelings of discontent. As a business owner, it is important to encourage healthy lifestyle practices for employees to ensure a reduction in stress and promote happier mindsets. Businesses can do this by recommending wellness practices, nutritional tips, healthy dietary options, active exercise suggestions and more. 

Celebrate Employee Achievements 

The end of the year is the perfect time to celebrate the achievements of your fellow employees and coworkers. By celebrating their successes, you can ensure that they feel valued and rewarded for their hard work. There is no better time than the holiday season to celebrate employee achievements, and acknowledging the dedication and commitment of employees can help them feel more confident and productive, right in time for the new year. 

Workplace Wellness: Beating The Holiday Blues 

It is no debate that the holiday season can be an incredibly difficult and stressful time for many employees and businesses alike. By establishing an effective workplace wellness plan, businesses can ensure that their employees continue to feel comfortable, proactive, happy and accepted within the workplace, and help to promote a positive track for success in the new year. Workplace wellness plans can effectively work to combat the holiday blues, and ring in the new year cheerfully. At Digital Mules, we know how important it is to prioritize the health and well-being of employees, and we work actively to ensure that our employees are productive and contempt in their day to day life. For more information on workplace wellness, visit our other blogs!