Ugly jumpers are enjoying their annual outing from the back of the wardrobe, Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit is in the air and the heating bill is a topical point of conversation. There’s no doubt Christmas is nearly here, but is your business prepared? If you’re in a B2C sector, this could be your busiest time of the year, but if you’re reading this blog then there’s a good chance you’re a B2B company and preparing yourself for a lot of thumb-twiddling. However, there are many things you can be doing to wind down your business on the right note so you can hit the ground running next year.
Shut down the office at Christmas OR get creative
This chart shows precisely why so many businesses close their doors towards the end of December. Peakcon has conducted this study for three years in a row and the result has always shown that come mid-December there is a drop in employee productivity of about 30% – 40%. There are a few reasons for this, namely that many of their clients will be shutting down so there is not as much work to do, but it’s also on account of the team suffering from seasonal distraction!
With productivity at an all-time low, closing your doors could be an attractive cost-saving solution for your business. However, you could also use this time of year as an opportunity to shake things up. Peakcon’s Director of Employee Experience, Michael Dean, suggests giving employees a chance to try other areas of work that they’re interested in and holding feedback sessions with them for insights into the year past as well as ideas for the next.
Review and update your business plan for next year
If you haven’t done it already, now is the time to review your business plan. Not every business owner is a fan of this particular task, giving it the crowning title of “Most likely to be put on the long finger”, but it really is worth doing. Having a business plan gives you goals for the months to come, KPIs to target and a practical way to measure how well (or not) you’re doing.
Your business plan doesn’t have to be a step by step guide; in fact, the more flexible it is, the better. But it should include real metrics that you want to target so you can start to measure success with meaningful data. While all is quiet on the Western Front, take the Christmas season as an opportunity to get ahead of the competition by deciding exactly how you’re going to employ your resources to achieve your business goals next year.
“He’s making a list marketing schedule, checking it twice!”
Before you set up your “Out of office” email and water the plants, you should double-check that the marketing is appropriately scheduled. Whether you’re B2C or B2B, your marketing strategy should take advantage of the Christmas season. Think about it, why do TV shows pull out all the stops at this time of year? It’s because no one has anything better to do over the Christmas than sit around munching on mince pies and looking at their screens!
Invest some time early in the month to design a marketing campaign that will capitalise on the Christmas festivities and schedule it with painstaking attention to detail! The reason we stress the importance of getting this right is that if you are closing down for the Christmas then no one will be in the office to manage any blunders, and we all know how these kinds of upsets can spread like wildfire online!
Prepare your recruitment drive for January
If you’re planning on hiring fresh talent next year, then January is the best time to have a recruitment drive. As recruiters, we know that the beginning of the new year is when many people consider moving on from their current job in the hope of new, exciting prospects. Those New Year’s resolutions really put a fire in people’s bellies! In fact, the first working Monday of the year has earned itself the nickname “Massive Monday” because of the sheer number of CVs that get sent out by hopeful candidates.
Right now, Ireland is enjoying a high employment rate, which on the one hand is great for the economy but also highlights the skills shortage Ireland is suffering from at the moment. Both these factors make hiring the right people extremely challenging, which is why getting the first pick of next year’s job hunters should be a priority. At Connexus Recruit, not only do we pull out all the stops when it comes to processing candidates that come to us through our website, but we actively headhunt people who are already employed so that our clients get the best fit for their company.
Need help in securing the best talent for your company? Get in contact with us today and we can start to connect the dots between you and your ideal candidate!
