Increase employee engagement, boost team morale, and show your staff the appreciation they deserve as the festive season approaches…
Christmas is right around the corner, and businesses just like yours will be bracing themselves for what is often the busiest time of year. It is a period that requires tenacity, planning, and provision in order to meet the spike in demand and maintain the relationships you’ve strived so hard to cultivate as pressures rise.
However, in amongst all the pre-Christmas buzz there’s one thing that organisations simply cannot do without during the festive season - and that’s motivated staff to help you meet your goals.
Not only are your employees having to contend with issues such as work-related burnout and overwhelm during this time, but they’re also facing a cost of living crisis that 78% of low-paid workers say is the worst financial period they have ever experienced. Combine this with the existing financial burden of the festive season, and you’ve got a recipe for stress, worry, and ultimately a disengaged workforce at the most crucial time of year.
In fact, research conducted by Peakon found that 7-10% of workers reported a drop in productivity across the entire month of December, with a further 30-40% reporting a fall in productivity by mid-December. A staggering one-half of participants admitted that they completed around 10-20% less work during December, citing exhaustion and Christmas-related stress as the biggest detractors of workplace motivation.
Now that we’ve identified what causes your employees to feel stressed and disengaged during the festive period, it’s time to consider the importance of rewarding your workforce to keep them motivated, mentally resilient – and very much on board.
Findings from a study carried out by Blackhawk Network identified that a whopping 88% of employees would like to receive a gift from their employer at Christmas. That’s because 39% of employees view gifts as recognition for their hard work, which in turn helps them feel more valued in their roles. 32% believe that gifts show care and consideration from their employers, and 22% say that seasonal gifts help them maintain their motivation.
So, your people are stressed at Christmas and are looking for a bit of recognition to soften that stress. What now?
One way to ensure your people feel valued around Christmas is with digital eGift cards from popular UK retailers. The broad appeal of digital rewards enables you to give back to your workforce without the headache of sourcing individual gifts for each employee, but still enables your people to treat themselves to something they really want.
Our digital vouchers not only offer something for everyone - they’re also easy to implement and can support your people financially during the festive season and current cost of living crisis. Plus:
- They can be enjoyed right away
- They can be shared with friends and family
- They’re easy to distribute across your entire workforce
- And there’s a huge choice of retailers to choose from, including Argos, Adidas, ASOS, The Body Shop, and more
Along with providing an effective way to show your people how important they are to your business, digital rewards can also benefit your people’s mental and physical wellbeing, too. By opting for eGift cards from health & beauty retailers, experience providers, spas, and health clubs, you can encourage your workforce to make time for self-care, provide some must-needed respite during the stressful Christmas period, and help them live happier, healthier lives.
But why should recognition be confined to one single season? We believe that in order to create a truly happy and harmonious workforce that consistently performs at their best, organisations must create a culture of continuous recognition in line with their company’s core values.
In a 2021 report published by Business2Community, positive feedback from peers and managers was found to enhance employee performance by up to 14%, and ongoing positive feedback can drive business performance by as much as 12%.
However, it’s not just performance that benefits from regular recognition. The report also found that 69% of employees would be motivated to stay with their company if a recognition and rewards solution was in place, and 63% of employees who received continuous recognition said they would be very unlikely to job hunt within the next 3-6 months.
Vivup highfive, our app-based Recognition and Reward solution, makes easy work of peer-to-peer recognition, celebrating employee achievements, and creating a culture of ongoing acknowledgement every single day. With this centrally managed digital solution, you can:
- Enable real-time, peer-to-peer acknowledgements for milestones, achievements or a job well done
- Provide financial rewards aligned with your values
- Boost employee morale and motivation
- See engagement levels within your organisation
- Encourage employees to recognise each other from the top down
- Reduce absenteeism
- Attract and retain top talent
- Grow a positive workplace culture
- Inspire active participation in all areas of work life
Ready to start discovering the power of employee recognition and the benefits it can bring to your business during Christmas and beyond? To learn more about how our digital rewards solution can support your staff over the festive season, or to request a demo of Vivup highfive, visit vivup.co.uk, or give our friendly team a call on 01252 784 541.
Sources
78% of low-paid workers say cost-of-living crisis is the worst financial period they have ever faced | Living Wage Foundation
Holidays Can Be Stressful. They Don’t Have to Stress Out Your Team. (hbr.org)
Don't be a Scrooge: 88% of employees want a gift! - HR News
5 Statistics to Help Build Your Case for an Employee Recognition Strategy - Business 2 Community
*Retailers are subject to change. Rewards provided to Employees through the Highfive platform is subject to HMRC Employee incentive awards rules on Income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC).
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