Christmas and New Year’s is a time of great celebration and joy for many.
For business executives, it is a time of mixed emotions.
Think of Ebenezer Scrooge in the Christmas Carol story. Giving Christmas day off to his employees was ridiculous to that goof.
For management, Christmas and New Year’s is where they can enjoy, for a couple of weeks, slowing down the pace.
For some in management, Christmas and New Year’s occurring on Wednesday is the worst as it basically destroys two weeks.
The lack of productivity is a great concern to these executives. All metric numbers, except retail sales, fall during this time.
Employees will take this time to use up their vacation time before they lose it at the end of the year. So there can be huge gaps in the employee teams and it makes the last two weeks of December a huge disaster.
But it may not be all bad.
In the race for ever increasing productivity, taking a break is not a disaster.
Humans are not robots and cannot be driven endlessly (I know that is obvious but some executives need to be reminded!).
Evidence is starting to pile up that days off gives great benefits to a company:
- Increased productivity – when an employee comes back from a break, they are able to tackle work much more efficiently.
- Creativity – when the mind is exhausted, there is little creativity – a rested mind can dream up all kinds of great ideas.
- Family Relations – spending time with the family is great for employee and the employer. Employees with significant family problems aren’t the most productive employees.
- Socialization – employees who spend time with friends outside of the company get a better perspective on life and will be more refreshed when they return to work.
- Physical – taking a break, resting, doing some physical activity, all help make for a better employee
Employers – enjoy your business taking a pause and realize the benefits.
Employees – relax and rest so you can be a better employee when January comes.