Here are some simple ways to keep employees engaged before the holidays: 1. Invite a yoga instructor or massage therapist to the office to help employees relax and reduce stress. 2. Create a campaign or competition focused on random acts of kindness to encourage positive social connections among coworkers. 3. Schedule a volunteer day where employees can help local charities while still getting paid for their time at work.

1. simple fun ways to keep
employees engaged
before the holidays

2. 69% 68% are less productive
during December
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SIMPLE
AND
FUN WAYSSIMPLE
AND
FUN WAYS
Here are workplace ideas to turn your staff’s
festive fizzle-out into festive focus.
of employees are
stressed by lack of time
before the holidays
(Added bonus: accomplish your culture-building wish list, too!)
American Physiological Association
Avenance

3. Invite a yoga instructor to the office before the holidays. Many yoga
practitioners can adapt postures for workplace settings and office wear—no
yoga studio or lululemon gear required. As an added benefit, employees can
continue to practice the postures they learn after the holidays are long over.
A TWIST:
Prefer to stretch your employees in a different way? Bring in a mediation
expert or registered massage therapist.
Give them a reason to come in to work during the dark days of December:
create an office campaign. (For even more engagement, make a game out
of it—see #3.) The campaign can be as simple as creating a random acts of
kindness jar somewhere in the office and as complex as turning Secret Santa
into a way to do nice (on-the-sly) for one other person in the office.
A TWIST:
Turn the campaign into a competition with a reward for the nicest person
on staff.
KEEP CALM
& YOGA ON
CELEBRATE
THE TWELVE
DAYS OF NICE
of employees say December is
the most stressful time of year42%
40%
(MetLife)
of employees who miss work
in December “just didn’t feel
like going.” (CareerBuilder)

4. 3
‘Tis the season for thinking of others and giving of yourself. Make it
a company-wide effort by scheduling a work day (or half day) where
people can volunteer at one of the causes your organization supports.
Making participation optional takes stress off those with end-of-year
deadlines. Making it a work day means everyone still gets paid. Making it
a group effort will help build social connections and teamwork.
A TWIST:
Host a workplace-wide toy drive, food drive or fundraiser for a charity
the company supports.
Why not turn your December productivity doldrums into fun and
games with some competitive kindness—after all, Forbes says
gamification is the future of work! You can create a free workplace
campaign using xocial.com, where teams (or individuals, if you
prefer) complete challenges to earn points. To tie into the giving
spirit of the season, the challenges on xocial are all about kindness,
health and causes.
A TWIST:
Create teams from groups that don’t normally work together to
encourage cross-company connections.
TURN WORK
INTO PLAY
GIVE BACK
AS A GROUP
of employees want to get
involved in their company’s
cause-related efforts
of Global 1000 organizations
use gamification to transform
biz operations
40%
75%
(Gartner)
(Cone)
4

5. Bring the gang together over food and drink in December by hosting
a workplace (or departmental) pot luck. Invariably, participants share
something of themselves when they share food they like to eat. Ask
those who don’t bring a dish to pay for their plate, and donate the
proceeds to charity. Amp up the festive feeling by springing for cider
or sparkling juice and organizing a game of Pictionary or charades.
Or add an ugly holiday sweater competition!
A TWIST:
Collect recipes from several pot lucks and publish them as an
office cookbook.
PLAN A
POT LUCK
is associated with positive
organizational performance
EA T I N G
T O G E T H E R
Imagine their surprise when you dedicate an hour in each of the
first two weeks of December to online shopping. Bring in holiday
treats (extra points if they’re healthy), heat up some cider, spank
on some holiday tunes and encourage people to share gift ideas,
shopping tips and online retailers. You’ll have turned a classic
December distraction into an opportunity to socialize and build
connection, and your employees will focus better before and after.
A TWIST:
Invite employees to use the office address for their online orders.
50%
HELP THEM
DO THEIR
SHOPPING
of employees shop online
while at work
(CareerBuilder)
(Cornell University)
5

6. You can accomplish almost all of these holiday productivity
(and culture-building) hacks in one place by organizing a free campaign
on xocial (pronounced soh-shuhl), a social network that aligns companies
with social good and helps individuals make a difference.
Recognition comes in all forms, not just financial. Before the
holidays, spend some time letting your employees know how much
you appreciate their workplace efforts. You can frame a quote
that sums up the employee’s contributions, write a card, or leave a
sticky note on their desk or computer monitor. Make the accolades
personal and authentic—if you don’t know the employee well,
delegate the job to a direct supervisor.
A TWIST:
Make your recognition more grassroots by inviting staff to
recognize their peers.
TELL THEM
HOW GREAT
THEY ARE
of employees say recognition
is a strong motivator for work
performance
80%
Find out how at xocial.com/for-workplaces
(Gallup)