How small businesses can combat the post-holiday blues

As the summer period draws to a close, a combination of post-holiday blues, shorter daylight hours and the sharp ‘return to reality’ can give employees little to smile about. This can be a difficult period for many small businesses who can’t afford to absorb a drop in their productivity post the holiday season.
The HR Dept is advising local small businesses to take positive action with their staff before that post-summer malaise sets in, to re-create that pre-holiday momentum and kick start the next quarter.
The HR Dept said, “The evenings are drawing in, that warm beach is now a distant memory, the kids have gone back to school, and it’s only a matter of time till they bring that inevitable cold home. This combined with having to play catch up upon returning to the workplace can make your staff feel a bit flat with little to look forward to.”
After the busy holiday period, many workforces are once again close too or are back to full strength. The HR Dept is advising local businesses to recognise this period as an opportunity to refocus and re-energise their workforce, to revisit and reengage with business plans for the next quarter.
The HR Dept added, “Before the post-summer malaise sets in, take this opportunity to give a little boost to your staff. Hold a team meeting and encourage managers to re-engage in one to one meetings in order to refocus your staff, review objectives and plan for the rest of the year. A well-constructed one to one meeting and target review helps to avoid problems in the last quarter of many companies’ financial year.
The HR Dept is there to help local SME businesses with objective setting and workforce engagement, helping you to make sure those post-holiday blues don’t spill into work and affect your business.”