As Christmas and New Year celebrations come to an end, many will be feeling the effects of gloomy weather, shorter days, and the debt they’ve run up after the festive break. It’s well known that the third Monday every January is dubbed ‘Blue Monday’, so what can businesses do to boost morale in the workplace and help employees get through the post-Christmas slump?
Related: Blue Monday and employee morale – moving beyond the gimmick
Create a fun event
At a time when everyone in the office is feeling low, what better way to cheer them up than with a team event they can look forward to either in the office or after work? Get your employees involved by asking them to come up with ideas.
There are plenty of ways you can bring some fun into the workplace; have a dress-down day, set up a competition, take everyone out for a drink after work or treat them to a staff lunch at a local restaurant. Another idea would be to kick start the day with a team breakfast. This will help to banish tiredness and keep energy levels high, as well as make everyone feel part of the team.
A selection of food will give employees something to look forward to, especially if they don’t normally have time for brekkie in the mornings. You could try keeping it healthy by arranging a selection of fresh fruits, yoghurts and croissants, or get everyone excited with bacon butties and fried eggs, though it’s worth going with the healthy option if you want to prevent energy levels from slumping.
Whatever you do, try to make it something everyone wants to be a part of and it will give staff something to look forward to in January.
Encourage staff to take lunch and breaks
Breakfast isn’t the only important meal of the day. Maintaining a healthy diet is good for all-round health and eating at regular intervals will help with stress and depression. Encourage staff to enjoy their full lunch break and eat something before they come back into the office. Make sure your employees feel comfortable taking regular breaks to keep moods lifted; when it’s often dark before and after work this time of year, it’ll be nice for your staff to get outside and enjoy the little bit of sunshine we do have!
Wear bright colours
Some of us dress to reflect our mood, so if your workers are feeling down in the dumps, you could find they all turn up to work in dark and depressing colours or, even worse, all in black. Encourage staff to wear bright colours on Blue Monday to lift everybody’s spirits and you will hopefully see their moods lift. You could even make it more fun by requesting that everyone wears pink or try turning it into a competition to fight for the ‘best-dressed Blue Monday worker’ award.
Recognise good work
Finally, staff can feel demotivated at the best of times, especially if they’re feeling overworked and their achievements are going unnoticed. It’s important that employers recognise a good job being done when they see it; even a ‘thank you’ won’t go amiss. If you’re aware that some of your staff are consistently doing a good job but you haven’t told them so, Blue Monday is a great time to do it as it’ll help them to feel more positive and motivated. This, in turn, will also count towards productivity in the workplace, so you really can’t go wrong.
Keep happiness levels up throughout the year
Banish Blue Monday and boost morale in the office by implementing these tips and your employees will have something to look forward to as soon as they enter the office. Not only will this help them to feel more positive about the day ahead, but it will provide your staff with a happier environment in which to work and, ultimately, increase productivity.
However, what if you want to look beyond Blue Monday and boost morale on a more permanent basis? There are plenty of other things you can implement to ensure your employees benefit in the longer term. Think about reviewing the company perks to see if you can offer anything extra to thank them for their continued hard work. Or create a committee for staff to get involved with all things social – a great way to encourage team interaction.
Another thing to think about is whether or not your employees have knowledge in the growth of the business. If they don’t know how well the company is doing, they might not feel very inspired or motivated to do a good job. However, if they are aware of any future plans and how they contribute to this growth, then employees are going to feel more special and part of the bigger picture.
One thing to watch out for, however, if you notice any of your workers in a consistently low mood, try having a one-to-one with them to make sure everything is ok, as sometimes there’s a lot more going on than just the winter blues.
Lee Biggins is the founder of CV-Library.
Further reading on managing staff
