The festive season is a time of joy, celebration, and relaxation. However, for many businesses, it can also be a period of uncertainty as employees take time off, and the usual rhythm of work is disrupted. The end of the year often prompts employees to reflect on their personal and professional lives, evaluating their achievements, goals, and overall job satisfaction. This period of reflection can lead to increased turnover as employees consider new opportunities or changes in their career paths.
Retaining employees during the Christmas break can be challenging, but with the right strategies, you can ensure your team remains engaged, motivated, and ready to hit the ground running in the new year.
There will always be the ‘plodders’ that will happily turn up year after year. But the problem is that successful businesses are only built from talent that are seeking to improve from one year to the next – not just grab a seat and enjoy the ride.
Some common reasons for Christmas reflection include:
Leaders are recognising that now is the time to engage in these important conversations to avoid frantically dealing with unanticipated turnover in the new year. The following outlines 9 key things employers can do to minimise turnover over the holiday break.
Understanding your employer brand is critical to promoting the benefits to team members. Do you embrace flexibility and remote work? Are your internal training programs above industry standards? Do you have an inclusion and diversity strategy? Does your business have a glass ceiling?
Determine what sets your company apart from your competitors and work out how this aligns to the EVP of each team member.
Is there a plan to put all the sales representatives through a development program in 2025? Many employers have hard working leaders and HR departments with amazing development plans in the works for next year. If this is your business, don’t let your team members go home for the holidays without sharing the exciting news! It just may be the hook that they have been looking for!
Irrespective of where you are on the organisational chart, it is nice to wrap up the year with some open and honest feedback with your leader. Reflect on three key achievements for each direct report and ensure that you let them know how it supported the business to achieve company success. When employees are clear exactly how their hard work aligns, they know that the late nights and hard work was not done in vain.
It is easy to assume what your team members value and where their pain points have been, but the only way to understand is to ask the questions. Set up a chat over coffee and ask important questions like:
Of course, it is useful to reflect on the year that was; but don’t dwell on the past. Your job is to engage the head, heart, and hands of employees by connecting them to the vision of the business in 2025 and beyond. What is going to be different next year? Are there plans for new products, machinery, or technology? Engage the employee with the plans so that they can join in the excitement.
One of the biggest contributors to turnover in the holiday period is leaders that do not respect the boundaries during time off. Sure, Sam might be the best at dealing with complex work issues, but everyone deserves uninterrupted leave. Employees need to be able to disconnect completely to recharge and this means cutting the digital lead.
Employee wellbeing and strategies to nurture strong mental health should be the top of every employer’s list, but sometimes these can take a back seat to business priorities. Let employees know how you will support them in 2025 and beyond and ensure they understand your approach to balancing work with wellness.
When employers commit to an engagement survey, they send a clear message that they are interested in acting on what is most important to team members. The end of year is a perfect time to frame up that you are seeking to understand what is important and committed to delivering.
Talented employees do not sit still for too long and are notorious for getting itchy feet over the festive season. In the days of strong social connection, your talented employee is not likely to go unnoticed. Don’t wait for someone else to poach your high performing/high potential (HIPO) employees. Devise a talent strategy designed to identify, partner, and grow with employees in your business.
Retaining key employees in the business is a year-long activity that takes commitment through all the seasons. Sometimes leaders forget about turnover until December and then madly scramble to secure their talent for the year ahead. There is no question that leaving retention strategies until the end of year is risky business and it may result in unwelcome turnover.
The good news is it’s not too late. Start today by scheduling individual catch-ups for an authentic and engaging chat that demonstrates that you are committed to a productive partnership in 2025. Implementing proactive and targeted retention strategies is worth the effort and will help your business take control of the dreaded Christmas turnover.
Employers are encouraged to revise their HR practices to ensure that there are tailored strategies to reduce turnover. Ai Group have experienced HR consultants who can partner with your business to improve organisational effectiveness and implement people strategies designed to retain talent. For assistance with your workplace matters, Members of Ai Group can contact us or call our Workplace Advice Line on 1300 55 66 77 for further information.
Take advantage of more than 150 years of experience actively solving Members’ workplace issues and representing their interests at the highest levels of national and state government. Being a Member of Ai Group makes good business sense. Call us on 1300 55 66 77 or visit our Why join page to sign up for a consultation with one of our member representatives.
Georgina is Senior HR Content Editor – Publications at Ai Group. She is an accomplished Human Resource professional with over 25 years of generalist and leadership experience in a broad range of industries including financial services, tourism, travel, government and agriculture. She has successfully advised and partnered with senior leaders to implement people and performance initiatives that align to business strategy. Georgina is committed to utilising her experience to create resources that educate and engage and is passionate about supporting members to optimise an inclusive workforce culture that drives performance.
