This time of year can be especially draining for employees. Colder weather, stress from the holidays and the end of year time-crunch all contribute to this. The good news is that positive energy is contagious. An article from Harvard Business Review gives a few simple things you can do to boost the energy in your organization starting today:
Build genuine relationships with employees.
Encourage leaders at your organization to get to know employees better. Creating high quality connections builds relational energy. Find common ground with employees that doesn’t involve work. This will help you better understand what motives and energizes your employees.
Create energizing events.
The holidays offer s fun time organize some employee events that can add some fun and energy to the organization. Get employees involved. Ask for volunteers to brainstorm and coordinate some fun holiday activities that can be done right inside the office. Make sure your leaders attend these events enthusiastically. It is important for employees to experience this.
Promote a giving culture.
Encourage and reward employees who help one another (Looking for reward ideas? Check out our Employee Recognition Toolkit). Also create opportunities for employees to give back to the community when possible. Encourage employees to coordinate a food drive, clothing drive or volunteer their time. Helping others creates a buzz of positive energy.
Measure relational energy.
Start to ask yourself after each interaction with an employee whether you feel more or less energized. If you feel less energized, consider if there something you could have done differently to make sure that you and the other employee felt more energized? Examine the language you use to talk about work. Is it positive or negative?
Just as in most things in the organization, leadership can have great influence on the energy in the organization. If you feel as though your company is low on energy, consider what your leadership could start doing differently today to boost that.