5 Ways to Keep Employees Engaged During the Holidays

The holiday season can be joyful, exciting, and somewhat stressful as employees countdown to celebrating the season with loved ones.

As a manager, it can be fun to join in the excitement, but challenging to keep everyone on task. Here are a few ways to keep your team’s momentum going throughout the season and start the New Year strong.

1. Celebrate Success – This can be as simple as using positive reinforcement, such as thank-you cards, phone calls, or a congratulatory email when you see an employee performing well.
2. Encourage time off- the holidays can incorporate travel, family obligations, parties and the need to decompress after a year of hard work.
3. Keep employees in the loop – Communication is essential in keeping employees engaged and the holidays can be a particularly busy time to keep everyone in the loop. When employees feel as though they are playing an active role in the development or progress of an office or facility, they are less likely to resist authority. Plus, you never know what insightful information they may have to offer that could make a significant impact.
4. Set challenging goals – Goals are a great way to keep your employees on track. Keep employees engaged with their work by reminding them of the importance of year end goals.
5. Create an enjoyable atmosphere – By creating an enjoyable atmosphere of acceptance, camaraderie and unity, your employees will feel more motivated to complete their work. Positivity is key, staff takes cues from you, so be sure the right attitude starts at the top.

 Managers shouldn’t ignore the holiday season in attempt to keep employees focused on their work. Recognize the holidays in order to keep employees productive and engaged. While it may cause some distraction, the holidays are a great time to celebrate employees and end the year strong.

Action Planning—Implementing Change Using AES Data

You gave your feedback through the 2017 All Employee Survey (AES), and now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and develop action plans to help improve the employee experience! There is a direct correlation between employee engagement and customer satisfaction. According to the 2016 AES, VA facilities with high employee engagement saw Veterans 31% sooner than facilities with low engagement. By improving the VA workplace, we will ultimately provide better care to the Veterans we serve every day.

The National Center for Organization Development (NCOD) administers the AES each year and has some tips on how you can use feedback to develop improvement strategies in the workplace through action planning. NCOD follows a feedback loop called the NCOD Model of Intervention, with action planning as one of the six steps. Employee input and outcome data are collected throughout each stage and influence subsequent steps.

1. Intake and Consultation
2. Assessment and Data Collection
3. Analysis and Presentation of Feedback
4. Collaborative Discussion
5. Action Planning
6. Follow Up / Continued Intervention

In any feedback loop, seeking, collecting, and acting on input should be continuous. Making improvements to the VA workplace should be ongoing—we must constantly reassess needs and make adjustments to see true improvements. After viewing the 2017 AES results on the AES Dashboard, meet with your workgroup to discuss the information and come up with a plan to make change. Keep these action plans close at hand, tweaking them as needed to best serve your workgroup and facility.

Also, keep in mind that the feedback loop should occur throughout the year, and surveys are just one way for employees to give input. Continue communicating with peers and supervisors about what can be done to improve VA, and be ready to jump in and help out. VA is excited to see how the results are used to improve our workplace and, ultimately, care to Veterans.

Visit the NCOD website for more information. If you need assistance with your 2017 AES results, please contact your local AES Coordinator or email NCOD directly at vhancod@va.gov.