Celebrating the holiday season with your remote employees: 5 tips

Remote work can sometimes get lonely. That's why, as an HR professional, you'll have to go out of your way to keep your remote team motivated, productive, and cheerful during the holiday season. Building a sense of connection around this time can help them overcome the anxiety and stress associated with the holiday season and improve their overall well-being, thereby preventing the risk of burnout. Here are five ways to celebrate this holiday season with your remote team and keep them happy and motivated:

1. Uphold a proper work-life balance

During the holiday season, your employees have to manage holiday parties, shopping, family responsibilities, and traveling while also completing their work, and this means they could experience severe burnout. With your employees working remotely, it's even harder to notice signs of burnout. That's why it's important to set clear expectations regarding responsibilities and availability during the holiday season. To ensure that work happens without any roadblocks, you can encourage your remote team to update their availability in their dedicated groups. Throughout the holiday season, you can focus on the results without fixating much on the number of hours your employees put in. Encourage employees to make use of their break time.

Also read: Tips to promote work-life balance among remote teams. 

2. Plan for a virtual holiday party

A fun, virtual holiday party could help your remote employees connect and relax after work. Send out digital invites to your remote team in advance to get them excited and prepared. If possible, send some holiday decor like festive lights, wreaths, or small Christmas trees, and encourage them to decorate their workspace ahead of time. This will add some life to your virtual party. You can also consider organizing live virtual music, dance, and stand-up comedy performances to set the right mood for the holidays. You could even encourage your employees to perform too. You can also have your CEO address your employees virtually to thank them for all their hard work and touch upon upcoming plans and projects for the new year.

3. Encourage virtual gift exchanges

What is the holiday season without exchanging a few exciting gifts? If possible, you could organize a virtual Secret Santa, wherein you use online tools to assign random gift recipients to each one of your remote employees. You would also want to set a minimum and maximum value for the gifts, and encourage your employees to place online gift orders that can be shipped directly to their co-workers. In addition to this, you can consider offering gifts or even monetary benefits like a holiday bonus from your side. This could raise your employees' spirits during the holiday season.

4. Create a virtual holiday group

Remote employees often miss out on personal connections. This lack of connection, especially during a stressful time like the holiday season, can hurt your remote employees. That's why it's a good idea to have a fun holiday channel as part of your internal communication application. At the outset, you can share a set of guidelines to ensure that the discussions that happen in the group remain respectful and on topic. Your employees can make use of this channel to share their holiday plans. You could also use this channel to get ideas and suggestions from employees for your virtual holiday party and gift distribution.

5. Organize fun virtual activities throughout the holiday season

Organizing fun virtual activities can bring your team together and help them beat the holiday season blues. Wellness programs like yoga, meditation, and exercises can be on one day of your itinerary. Fun events like interfaith celebrations and ugly sweater contests can be held on another day. A virtual dinner party is also a great way to let your employees bond over good food. You can release a holiday newsletter, wherein you mention your employees' achievements and key milestones as a token of appreciation. You can also try virtual volunteering options to give back to the community.

Wrapping up

Keeping your remote employees motivated and happy during the holiday season can go a long way toward making them feel valued and help them navigate the holiday season. Understanding what they like and personalizing these activities according to their interests can help.

Also read: Spreading holiday cheer in the workplace