Getting back from holidays and re-igniting your team

Now that the summer holidays are a distant memory fading into the mists of time, it can be hard to get your team back into the groove of work. The relaxed atmosphere of holidays can make it difficult for employees to return to regular work routines. But, with the right approach, leaders can effectively re-engage their staff and ensure a smooth and productive return to work. Here are some tips for leaders to reignite the spark among their teams.

1. Welcome Back with a smile: Greet your team with warmth and enthusiasm. Organise a welcome back meeting or a small gathering to reconnect on a personal level. Share positive experiences from your own holiday to set a friendly and approachable tone. Acknowledge that the shift from holidays back to work can be hard, and let your team know that you understand and support them.
2. Set Realistic Expectations: Avoid overwhelming your staff with a mountain of pending tasks or complex projects immediately on their return. Instead, ease them back into work by setting achievable goals and objectives for the first few days. This will help them regain their confidence and motivation without feeling stressed.
3. Switch on your Active Listening: Schedule 1to1s with each team member to understand how they’re feeling after their holidays – do they have concerns or new aspirations? Show genuine interest in their experiences and give them time to voice any challenges they might be facing. This demonstrates that you care about their well-being and are ready to help where needed.
4. Communicate Changes and Updates: During the summer, there might have been significant changes in the business that some employees missed while they were away. Schedule a team meeting to discuss any updates or alterations to the company’s goals, strategies, or processes. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and avoids any confusion or misunderstandings when returning to work.
5. Consider how engaged your team are. An employee engagement survey can help provide the opportunity for people to share what they value about the workplace, their manager, the role and the culture can really help you to focus and embed the great stuff you are doing but also provides the chance for people to share what might be getting in the way of them giving their best.  We still have funding available for businesses in York, North Yorkshire and the East Riding but only for a few more weeks so don’t delay planning for this.  You can read here about the difference an employee engagement project made to Ardent Financial Planning.
6. Provide Refreshers and Training: Understand that after a long break, some staff members may feel rusty or unsure about certain tasks. Offer refresher courses or training sessions to help them ease back into their roles. Lunch and learns can be great to give small bite sized learning opportunities.  This proactive approach not only boosts their confidence but also ensures that they perform at their best without feeling overwhelmed.  Don’t forget we have a range of one day courses that can help with this – click here to have a look.
7. When did you last have a team event which brought everyone together. This time of year is a great time to refresh and remind the team about your vision and values, where you are heading and how you plan to get there and therefore how everyone can contribute best to this.  If you need help with a team event, we are experts are finding exactly what is needed to engage your team.

Re-engaging staff after the summer holidays requires thoughtfulness and empathy. By demonstrating genuine care, providing support, and fostering a positive work environment, leaders can successfully reignite the passion and commitment of their teams, resulting in improved productivity and a stronger sense of camaraderie among employees.

Bear in mind that this can also be a great time for a ‘fresh start’ and some of that 1to1 time can be used in clearing the air with an honest conversation if you’ve been putting one off.  Take a look at Joanne’s recent blog here for some advice on holding honest conversations

If you need help re-igniting your team, we are here to support in whatever way we can:-

Employee Engagement survey to understand what will ignite everyone

Training events and programmes that will ignite people’s skills and passion for learning

Team Building events that will re-ignite the team in their purpose and the vision