As the weather gets colder and the days get shorter, it's easy for your team's motivation to decline alongside it. If you don't want to see employee morale and productivity plummet during the winter months, it's important to take proactive steps to energize and inspire your staff.
To help, members of Young Entrepreneur Council recommend ways to keep your employees motivated and their spirits high all winter long.
Team morale can dip over the long winter months, so what's one strategy you have for keeping spirits up and giving your team a needed motivation boost?
1. Share company goals to instill a sense of purpose
Employees want to feel like they have a purpose. They want to see themselves in the bigger picture. Share your company goals and let your employees know how each one of them fits into achieving those goals. Create milestones and celebrate the wins along the way. Working toward a common goal is one of the best ways to create an environment of engaged employees, which in turn, boosts morale. —Jared Weitz, United Capital Source Inc.
2. Hold biannual off-site retreats
We are a small remote company, so we have instituted a program where twice a year we bring everybody together to discuss the business as a whole, see each other in person, and do some team building. This gives people the chance to connect and feel like they are not just stuck talking to Zoom boxes all day every day. —Tony Scherba, Yeti
3. Create a workout competition
One strategy for keeping energy levels and moods healthy throughout the winter is to create a workout competition for the whole team to participate in in their own way. It could be as simple as “most daily workouts,” or even just “who got the most steps in today.” Keeping energy levels up hinges on activity levels, so finding fun ways to encourage exercise can be helpful in the winter. —Richard Fong, SecurityForward.com
4. Boost employee morale in winter with virtual parties and events
We have virtual parties and events. We do regular game nights, we recently had a Freddie Mercury impersonator perform for us live, and we even took a drawing class online together. Fun connects us and keeps us engaged! —Morissa Schwartz, Dr. Rissy's Writing & Marketing
5. Engage employees in contests
One strategy you can use to keep team morale up and give your team a motivation boost during the winter months is to have them engage in contests. You can plan a contest based on each one of your team members’ KPIs. For sales executives, it could be receiving an extra bonus for a number of sales; for a lead generation specialist, it could be for driving quality leads, and so on. —Alfredo Atanacio, Uassist.ME
6. Offer remote work flexibility
People hate to get out of their beds in the winter, let alone go to the office. To boost your employees’ morale during winter, you can offer them the flexibility to work from home when they feel like it. Just tell them to meet their goals on time. This will let them work from the comfort of their homes and enjoy the work they do. —Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster
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7. Make room for relaxation
You can keep spirits up during the winter by making more room for relaxation and fun. Whether it's having “Casual Fridays” or giving employees a work-from-home day, you can show them you care by taking these kinds of measures. —Jared Atchison, WPForms
8. Expand the company holiday calendar
Give plenty of time off. We recently added an additional four paid days off to our company holiday calendar, so we now have a total of 21 paid days off throughout the year. Many of these days fall in November and December around holidays, and we've seen that client work slows down around that time, so it works out well. Giving the team ample time off around the holidays to see family and recharge is important. —Kelsey Raymond, Influence & Co.
9. To boost employee morale in winter, offer extra benefits
The winter season can be the perfect time to share extra benefits that you provide to your employees. Instead of dreading the long winter months, people will associate them with getting rewarded. Share bonuses, free gifts, discounts, or something valuable during this time. You'll be adding to the spirit of gift giving and creating general cheer at your workplace. —Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
10. Hold fun monthly team meetings
We usually have fun team meetings once a month. Everyone gathers together and shares good news or shows the rest of the team a cool hobby or collectible. When the holiday season kicks up, we tend to have more of these get-togethers. Typically, we host two to three per month during the winter months. They are all optional, but we know that most of our team enjoys these events. —Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights
11. Give people something to look forward to
The best way to boost morale is to always have something to look forward to. That might look like holiday parties, bonuses and rewards, or keeping track of goals. This time of year is the perfect time to celebrate wins, no matter how small. Encourage those who are really putting in hard work and achieving company goals. Coming together as a team will help you weather the dark winter months. —Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker
12. Find additional ways to say thank you
Keeping spirits up by showing appreciation can be very valuable to the mental well-being of your team. Small thank-you gifts, fun social events, or just an email to say thank you can make all the difference. —Zane Stevens, Protea Financial
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