Yahoo Finance How Bosses Should Thank Their Staff During Year End
End of the year is the time schools are on holiday and the morning peak hour traffic start becoming more tolerable. This is generally a less hectic month as people in Singapore begin to go for their yearly holidays and clear their annual leave.
Some of us use this period of “relative” calm to reflect on how this past year has treated us, both from personal and professional standpoints. It is also an important time to thank the people around us who have helped us through the year. They include those who have worked under and alongside us, and if we’re feeling especially generous, even those above us.
Regardless of whether you are the CEO, General Manager, Head Of Department, Team Leader or a rank and file employee, most of us work in teams. Thus, it is important for us to thank the people we work with for their hard work over the past year.
Here are some meaningful gifts bosses should consider giving as it has more meaning and shows that it comes from the heart. In some cases, they don’t even cost a dime.
1. Time Off For Your Staff
Your employees have worked hard over the past 11 months and are finally enjoying a few days of leave to spend a little extra time at home with their kids and family.
You know what is the best thing you can do for them during this time period? Absolutely nothing. In terms of work.
Give them a break. Stop emailing them for non-urgent matters, stop texting them (unless you’re wishing him/ her Merry Christmas) and most importantly, stop calling them, they will be in at work after the weekend or when their leave ends.
They have sacrificed and worked tirelessly for the team over the past year, and deserve some space. You’ll be surprised this break may give them the boost to can come back fresher and hungrier.
2. A Thank You Note
It is remarkable how often we fail to thank the people who have worked hard for us.
Just because the company is paying them a salary doesn’t mean they don’t deserve our thanks and appreciation. They are employees, not slaves.
People work hard several reasons. Firstly, they need to earn a salary to feed themselves and their families. Beyond that, there are many who are also working because they believe in the organisation’s goals. Some also work hard because they genuinely enjoy the work that they do and the people who they work.
If you don’t think this work, try recalling the time during In Camp Training where a high-ranking Colonel in the army takes the time to come down and personally thank the NS unit for their effort and service over the past few weeks. It doesn’t cost anything (except for some time) but it does make soldiers feel appreciated for their efforts.
3. Stop Complaining About People Taking Leave At The Same Time
It is not ideal but neither is it a big deal, so don’t make a big fuss over it.
You should go beyond your means to try to accommodate their needs this one time of the year. Work should also be slower to come seeing that many people in general are away on leave too…unless you’re in the christmas sales industry, but you should already know that part-timers are the way to go for this festive season.
4. Hangout Together
Forget the Friday department happy hour or the company weekend get together at East Coast Park. Instead, why not just hangout together as friends? It doesn’t matter if it’s during office hours or over the weekends. It could be a drinking night, football night, a poker night, a pizza night or all of the above combined in a single awesome night.
Put it on the company’s credit card or send the bill to HR. The point is to connect together as friends, not colleagues. This builds a sort of bond outside of the workspace that will never be formed emailing one another in the office.
5. Inviting Family Over During An Office Party
The office should be an environment where family, work and play can co-exists together. And nothing embodies that better than having an awesome office party where people can come together and simultaneously spend quality time with their family while engaging with their colleagues.
It doesn’t even have to be expensive. Organising a potluck is one way to get everyone’s involvement while keeping expenses in check. In a big enough group, you would surely be able to find a few good cooks who would be more than happy to showcase their culinary skills.
Party activities can include group games, card games or simply watching a movie using the office projector. It would be nice, for once, to see Darth Vader and Star Wars being played over the boardroom projector rather than the stupid work-in-progress PowerPoint slides that always get criticised.
Just remember to also invite the cleaning auntie…she’s worked equally hard keeping your office from resembling a pig’s pen throughout the year.
Connect With Your Staff During The Festive Session
In our opinion, thanking the people around us who have supported us over the past year is more important than making some New Year’s resolution that we may or may not keep.
What other ways can we show our appreciation for the people who have worked with us? Share us your thoughts on Facebook.
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