Holi-daze? How Holidays May Improve Working Conditions
The holiday season is a blessing and a curse for business. Depending on the company’s financial calendar, firms are either trying to exhaust year end budgets or completing projects before employees take holiday time off. The end of the year is usually composed of a variety of company and vendor holiday meals, family functions, and taking care of out of school children. It can make for an extremely busy time for employees at the office, but it doesn’t have to. Below are a few reasons why the holidays may actually improve work conditions:
Reason 1. Meetings are reduced due to the holidays
Employees worldwide take a good portion of time off from November to January causing most meeting organizers or attendees to be out of the office causing meeting cancellations equating to extra time to be devoted to work.
Reason 2. Less interruptions from other employees
During the holidays co-workers tend to focus on their own internal or external work projects leading to a minimal co-worker interactions. For jobs that do not require constant interaction, additional time can be devoted to projects. A majority of workers are away from the office during these times creating possible work efficiency.
Reason 3. Ability of working at own pace.
Going into the office or working remotely for short durations can actually be beneficial. Most companies worldwide have weeks off during December and January for New Year celebrations. Working on and off at these times can give some employees clarity for new ideas, projects, etc without the pressures of the workplace bearing down on them. Depending on the structure of their firms, employees may be able to reallocate these days off for other times of the business year.
For example; one employee who working at a fast paced consumer goods company decided to save vacation days for another time during the U.S. holiday break. The available time allowed the employee to devote time to a neglected and needed project improving the overall company process (there was no structured process prior). The employee knew there would be no other time during the upcoming work year where this effort could be completed during normal business.
Once management came into the office after the holiday break, there was work already flowing. By completing a project, management was elated. Working over the break actually made the worker’s day to day task’s easier due to the implementation of the new company process.