Christmas, as the transitional period into the new year, can be a very busy time for many companies and customer service departments are likely to be stretched further than in other times of the year. This can cause motivation issues amongst staff, particularly as they begin to wind down for Christmas.
Keeping morale and motivation high in the festive period can be done by recognising the great work your team have done throughout the year. For 43% of employees, being recognised by their superiors is the number one thing that makes them feel engaged and motivated at work.
This highlights the importance of putting a considerable amount of thought into your agents’ Christmas rewards and top of this list is the Christmas party, which will be detrimental to the motivation and morale of your team.
Here are 3 tips for rewarding staff with something they will like over the festive period:
Personalise gifts and use your knowledge of your team
Team members are much more likely to appreciate a gift from their superiors that has had some thought put into it, but that also offers a degree of flexibility. Gift cards are ideal because it gives the agent the opportunity to go and buy something they actually want. However, gift cards should not be treated with a one-suits-all attitude. People will have different interests, so use your knowledge of your staff and get them a gift card for a shop that you know they like.
Say thank you
To support your gifts, your employees would love to hear you say thank you too. Leaving a gift on a team member’s desk isn’t particularly personal, so this makes a face-to-face interaction even more important. As many staff as possible should group together and recognise individual achievements to further personalise the process.
Stagger rewards over the period
Christmas gift rewards are becoming increasingly expected amongst employees, therefore distributing rewards across the festive season and into the new year is not only unexpected, but can have a positive impact on staff morale when the January blues begin to set in.
For more tips about how to keep your staff happy please see our other blogs.