HR Guide on Managing Employees During the Holiday Season

It’s the holiday season, and leave requests are rolling in fast. There are family gatherings, extra errands to run, and the holidays themselves. Troubling days for HR, indeed.

Everyone has a life outside of work, but production does not stop. This is still a business, and here are a few tips to get you through this HR problem during the holidays.

1. Plan ahead

Ask everyone to get their leave request in as early as possible. Send a friendly email or memo and communicate clearly on how these requests should be placed.

Planning ahead means more than just scheduling ahead, you need a plan of action. Sometimes an employee’s leave request happens to land on an important deadline or in the middle of a project in which you will need them.

Planning leaves can be complicated

You should not automatically decline their request. If possible, create a plan of action with them that allows them their leave. For the employee, this could mean working ahead, putting in extra time or making the right preparations to work remotely.

2. Encourage employees to work it out together

Though it’s an HR’s job to handle requests and creating schedules, you should not exclude employee participation. When a decision between leave requests arises, gather employees together and see if they can reach an agreement.

Whatever they come up with together will always be better than a decision from HR. Employees are more than willing to compromise toward one another.

3. Encourage working from home

Some employers don’t like to let employees work from home. Usually, they have a good reason but at this time of year, it’s better to practice some flexibility. Don’t treat teleworking as the last resort, treat it as your go-to problem solver when requests are coming in fast.

If certain times don’t work for some departments, suggest teleworking as an option and ensure that your team has everything they need.

Many of these leave requests will require actual time off of work, but others might not necessarily need that. You never know who might be looking for an excuse to take some time away from their in-laws. Having options can be very helpful.

4. Be reasonable

If you’re denying a leave request, provide a real reason. Not because they did not turn in their request on time or they have not been with the company long enough to receive that day off. Work together and be honest with the employees about the organisation’s needs during this time.

Employees take more time off during the holidays, and the office is closed more frequently, so the time that we are in the office needs to be used optimally. The time off and time on is a very big compromise.

If your team expects you to facilitate their work-life freedom, they need to help make it work. Ask them to fully enjoy their time out of the workplace and come back refreshed and ready to work.

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Source: HR and the Holidays: The "Time Off" Issue