It’s the holiday season already! How did that happen so quickly?

As the year draws to a close, it’s time for end-of-year reports, wrapping up projects, hitting deadlines. To your employees, it means so many distractions that it can be nearly impossible to concentrate.

Here’s how to keep your employees focused and productive during the last stretch of the year before the clock strikes midnight in 2022.

1. Consider flexible time.

This might be harder in some work environments than others, but allowing people to start earlier and leave earlier, or to work four 10-hour days to have a day off at the end of the week, can go far toward helping your employees stay focused. They’ll understand that they’ll be working the same number of hours, but it’s on them to complete all their work by the time they walk out on, say, Thursday if they want to have Friday free to take care of responsibilities and tasks at home. If a full day isn’t an option, try half-days or an hour here or there. Give them back some time in their week by asking for a little more time for you beforehand.

2. No unscheduled overtime.

Everyone understands that things can sometimes go awry. But thinking ahead and working toward a schedule means, in theory, everyone is striving to meet the same goal by the appointed deadline. People don’t want to be spending extra time in the office until there’s something in it for them — see above — but you can do your part by pledging not to require any overtime on a particular project through the holiday season. They’ll appreciate the gesture that their off time is being protected and treated with respect.

3. Set priorities and share them.

Keeping people focused can be as simple as looking at what needs to be done, figuring out the most important jobs and tasks, and setting everything else aside. Your team will appreciate the clarity and, if done right, it can remind them that their work is an integral part of the company’s success. Workers who take pride in what they do and understand their value and importance can feel inspired to work harder to help meet the larger goal because they’ll feel they’ve contributed to it directly.

4. Cut the meetings.

This is a popular rallying cry, and some meetings are worth it, but this is the time for making meetings that could be emails into actual emails. Freeing up time on the calendar means people have more time to work and focus on the job at hand, instead of taking time out to sit idly and hear the discussion. It’ll save time for you as well!

5. Get creative with incentives.

If you’ve never offered incentives for work, this is a good time to try it. If employees feel like they’ll “win” something for staying focused, it becomes a game. If they can “earn” something for completing tasks, whether that’s a gift card, extra time off, coffee, etc., that’s a big motivator to get down to business. Some places offer cash; others offer remote working opportunities; whatever works best for your company and is something your team would be interested in acquiring is a good idea.

It’s hard to stay focused this time of you — you’re probably juggling just as many outside tasks as internal ones!  — but it can be done. A little extra carrot and a little less stick is a better approach to keeping employees on track, and it just might add a little holiday spirit to the workplace.

Build Your Company’s Success with Davis Staffing

If you’re looking to build on your company’s success in 2022, call Davis Staffing. Not only can we help with clients who have the kind of work experience and skills you’re looking for, but we can also offer other ideas on how to keep your employees on track. Call Davis Staffing today, and let’s get going!