Many business owners have a love-hate relationship with the holidays. Your seasonal sales might spike, but frequently your employees slump. With shopping and parties and basically everything else taking precedence this time of year, employee productivity often falls to an all-time low around the holidays. So what’s an employer to do? To keep your employees happy and productive, check out these tips.

Don’t ignore the holidays.

There’s no better way to actually promote a lack of productivity than to pretend that the holidays aren’t here. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can just shut down for the next few months, but a little holiday courtesy can go a long way with employees. For instance, you know some workers will want to use their vacation days, so be proactive and start announcing time-off request deadlines early to ensure that everyone is accommodated to the best of your abilities. If an employee asks to knock off a few hours early to catch a flight or make a special family dinner, let them. And when possible, give your employees shortened days on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. 

Offer working incentives.

To help promote employee productivity at the holidays, create opportunities for them to reap the benefits of their hard work. Regardless of whether you give out year-end bonuses for employees, you can still offer an additional monetary windfall to the worker with the most sales or best customer feedback. Or give them an extra vacation day for next year. Even a gift card can do the trick for encouraging employee efficiency during the holidays.

Celebrate the season!

A surefire way to entice productivity this season is to give your employees something to look forward to. In other words, it’s time to plan a holiday office party. Office parties needn’t break the bank, either. If money is tight, make it a potluck. To further increase employee goodwill, let them bring their families to your company shindig. And parties aren’t the only way to celebrate the season. Have a contest for “best” worst holiday sweater. Let your employees decorate their offices or cubicles. Above all else, make sure that your festivities are inclusive off all holidays this time of year. By following these seasonal suggestions, you can make sure that your employees stay hard working and happy.