December can be a tricky month for HR practitioners. Employees have gone into holiday mode, with many taking off early, coming in late, shopping online at work, and (inadvertently or not) violating company policies with holiday decorations, cards, or gifts.
Add to that the fact that many businesses bring on additional staff during the holiday season and you’ve got a cadre of employees who don’t know (or don’t care) about the company policies governing PTO, inclusion, and time usage.
The good news is that your HR tech can help. Take a look at our top five ways you can add a little more “ho, ho, ho” and a little less “no, no, no” at the office this year.
Everybody wants off for their holiday of choice this month, and that can create tension in the office. Communicate PTO policies well in advance and make sure employees know how you choose which employees get first pick of time off.
It’s much easier to manage time off requests when you have the right tools for the job. Custom dashboards like this one from Ascentis help managers keep tabs on requests, approvals, and scheduling:
We also love the shared calendar feature from BambooHR that let’s you see at a glance who will be out of the office on a given day:
Hiring seasonal workers can demand significant time and attention during the time of the year when those commodoties are in highest demand. The good news is that your ATS can make the recruiting and hiring process easier with features like custom sorts and searches, job board integration, candidate management, and position management.
Criterion’s ATS also has a “Publish to Social” feature which lets you share your job postings on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ from within the software.
Temporary employees who are joining your team for the holidays need onboarding just as much as your permanent workforce if you want them to contribute to higher productivity this season. Don’t make them sink or swim! Use branding and preboarding to give new team members a good feel for your company culture and prepare them to hit the ground running on day one. You can also assign a buddy to help them integrate with the team and give them opportunities to ask questions as needed.
A well-designed employee portal like this one from Vibe can keep track of these activities and help your seasonal workers feel like part of the team:
Wellness programs made Josh Bersin’s list of top trends for 2017, and they’re becoming even more important as tools to promote engagement and culture as we head into the new year. Use your software’s notification system to provide reminders about healthy eating and exercise habits this season. HR Dive also recommends keeping an eye out for employees who may be experiencing increased amounts of stress during the holidays. Make sure employees know about your Employee Assistance Program so they can take advantage of the services offered.
Perhaps the prickliest question HR practitioners face is how to design an inclusive holiday policy that everyone can live with. SHRM offers these suggestions:
The bottom line is this: Create a culture of common respect. It’s the best way to make everyone’s holiday season merry and bright.