CEO Corner: Ramping Up Or Ramping Down For Christmas

Written by Soong Chong, Director

There is about 6 weeks until Christmas and some companies will either be ramping up their activities and keeping busy or ramping down and preparing for Christmas holidays.

Things that will most likely occur during this period are:

• Staff will be taking holiday leave
• Staff will be socialising a lot more and taking an interest in what others are doing for Christmas
• Staff will be browsing the internet and looking for Christmas presents, holiday destinations or holiday activities. Most probably all of the above.

So in summary, staff will not be as focused and productive, which is to be expected during this time of the year. As a manager, you probably already know this is happening and have come to accept it.

So here are a few things that can be done to ensure maximum productivity during this time:

• Inform staff of their objectives and what is required to be completed before the season begins.
• Thank staff for their hard work during the year
• Organise team activities to build camaraderie
• Relax, enjoy and wish everyone a Merry Christmas
• Source temporary staff to fill the skill gap during the Christmas period
• Be flexible
• Organise your own time off

By adopting these suggestions the communication with your staff will benefit tremendously which in my opinion is really important!