Have you ever felt like your team comes back from the holidays seeming bummed out? If so, don’t be alarmed. It’s a common case of the post-vacation blues. In this article, you’ll learn how you can help your team overcome it using these five tips:
Post-vacation blues. Post-holiday depression. Whatever you call it, odds are you’ve heard of it before. It’s the feeling of being down that people get when they head back to work after the holiday season. And if you’ve ever thought to yourself that it was just something people talk about but don’t actually feel, you might be surprised to learn the truth. It affects people worldwide.
Here’s why:
But here’s the good news: you don’t have to let it be all doom and gloom at your office once the holidays are over and real life gets back in swing. There are things you can do to help get everyone back to normal.
As Harvard Medical School puts it, your brain requires a constant supply of “fuel” to function. This fuel is gained from the foods you eat and the drinks you consume, and it has a direct effect on your mood. Like an expensive car, your brain functions best when it gets only premium fuel.
Plot twist: according to Laura Cipullo, RD, author of The Body Clock Diet, the winter months have a big impact on what you eat. Namely, cooler temperatures, fewer daylight hours, and more time spent indoors actually trigger biological changes that make you more inclined to eat higher volumes of food – and higher-calorie foods as well. When you factor in increased alcohol consumption (nearly double for the average American, according to Beverage Daily), it’s no surprise that people come out of the holidays feeling, well, blue.
As an employer, the last thing you want is to have people coming back to work feeling worn down and beat up. It’s a safe bet that won’t stimulate productivity and positive outcomes. So, what can you do to curb this? Create a snack cart packed with healthy food options to encourage your team to start filling their bodies and brains with premium fuel. The best bets for your snack cart include:
If you had to guess, what would you say is the number one New Year’s resolution? If your answer was “exercise more,” you’re on the money. Research from YouGov showed that a whopping 50% of people cited getting more exercise as their number one resolution.
But the benefits of your employees’ personal health extend into their professional lives as well. Exercise releases endorphins, which make people happier, and has even been proven to improve mental capacity and offer boosts in energy.
Research from The American Psychological Association shows that people who exercise before work are 15% more productive throughout the day and are less likely to develop job burnout and depression. Believe it or not, the benefits of physical fitness are so big that some companies even allow their staff to dedicate a chunk of work time to fitness.
And while you don’t necessarily have to go that far, incentivizing health and wellness at work can be a great way to help your employees shake off the holiday blues and get back into the swing of things. You can consider offering things like:
You can also consider encouraging your employees to start their own employee-led fitness groups. For instance, at Outback, a group of employees came together to start a lunchtime run club (also known as the Runch Club). Also, one of the perks we offer is that we will make an annual contribution towards a fitness endeavor of our employees’ choosing, and it has become a staff favorite!
Let’s just face the facts: after all the excitement of the holiday season, the first months of the year can look pretty bleak. This can be a bit of a bummer for people.
That’s why it’s a great time to help lift your team’s spirits by giving them something they can look forward to – like team building activities and social events! And the good news? You can make these into multipurpose activities that are both fun and beneficial from a business perspective.
Here are a few your team might love:
The post-holiday blues can deal a devastating blow to an organization’s momentum coming into a new year. This can be seen in the fact that the months immediately following the holidays are decidedly uninspiring and unproductive. Don’t just take our word for it. Research from Redbooth found that January is literally the most unproductive month of the year, followed closely by February. So, what can you do to help your team get inspired and ready for a great year ahead?
In our humble opinion, hosting a company kick-off meeting is a great bet.
Kick-off meetings are intended to get your employees fired up – whether about a new project, a product launch, or a new year. Generally taking place over multiple days, these can be unbelievably successful in bringing out the best in your team.
If this sounds like something your group is in need of, then check out our free resource, An Event Planner’s Guide to Epic Company Kick-Off Meetings. Here, you’ll find everything you need to know about kick-off meetings, including:
Believe it or not, the survey we mentioned at the beginning of this article from The American Psychological Association found some other interesting information. It showed that people find commercialism and the pressures of gift-giving among the top stressors of the holiday season.
That means it’s actually not uncommon for people to come back to work feeling inundated and overwhelmed by buying and receiving gifts.
One way to shake this is to get out and do something good for somebody else – with no strings attached. Charitable initiatives have been proven to make people happier, making it the perfect remedy for those post-holiday blues.
At Outback, we offer a number of charitable team building activities that you might love, including:
For even more feel-good CSR ideas, check out our blog post: 15 Creative Volunteer Ideas to Help Your Team Make a Difference. Here, you’ll find a wide array of ways you can get out and give back.
Are the post-holiday blues a big problem within your organization? If so, how do you help your team overcome them? We’d love to hear your approach in the comments section below.
For more information about team building activities that can help your team overcome their post-holiday depression, just reach out to our Employee Engagement Consultants.