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Here are some tips on getting your employees into the holiday spirit. These ideas will help keep employee morale up and also motivate them to do well despite all the distractions that accompany the holidays.

1. Host a Holiday Decorating Party: Because there are different holidays being celebrated by different groups of people, throw a decorating party and provide all different types of decorations for our employees. Encourage everyone to decorate their office space according to their holiday celebrations. This allows everyone in the office to stay in the spirit of the holidays and educate fellow employees about their specific holiday.
2. Provide allotted Online Shopping Time: If your company has a strict online browsing policy, allow an hour a day (12-1pm) where computers can access usual shopping sites and employees could get some of their shopping done on their lunch break while still being at work.
3. Holiday Rewards Contest: Set up a holiday rewards contest. You can set goals for each department and provide gifts for the winners. Run the contest through December to encourage employees through healthy competition. Great gifts would be gift certificates or extra vacation days!
4. Set-up Holiday Music Radio Station: It’s easy to set up a radio station online and broadcast it over the net. Let employees suggest their favorite holiday songs and include them in your playlist. Employees can listen at their desk and play it in the lobby of your office.
5. Host a Holiday Party: Having a holiday party is a standard that employees have come to look forward to and expect. Not holding a holiday party would most likely be a big disappointment for them.
6. Gift Exchange: Arrange a gift exchange between employees. Each person can randomly be assigned a coworker to purchase a small gift for. Make sure to assign spending limits and encourage creativity in present buying.
7. Creative Gifts for Employees: Have a caricature artist come in to draw caricatures of your employees as a holiday gift. It takes only 5-10 minutes for a caricature artist to draw a portrait of a person. This provides a fun break for employees and gives them something they can display in their office or at home. You could even use the caricatures on your company websites under personnel bios, instead of a traditional picture.

Buzz Media can help you with the following:

1. Holiday Broadcast Brainstorming Meeting: We can come in and help plan out fun new holiday projects that involve some of Buzz Media’s services. All it takes is a little creativity.
2. Produce a Video with a Holiday Message to Company: This video can be a warm greeting from the heads of the company to the employees and clients. It can be distributed via an internal newsletter, on your website, or played on a loop in the company lunchroom.
3. Produce a Year in Review Video: A year in review video should highlight all of your company’s accomplishments from the past year. It will show employees and clients what the company has done and how it fits into the business models. You can add in an encouraging message for the new year’s goals and projects to get people excited about coming back to work after the holidays. Make it into a podcast and send it out very easily.
4. Employee of the Year Podcast Interview: If you already name an employee of the year this is a logical next step. We can provide professional video of the special employee talking about how they have been able to be effective in the organization. It provides inspiration and education to other employees.
5. Add Humor into Your Organization: Show your employees that you have a sense of humor. Hire a professional comedian to make your employees laugh about the company, the managers, and themselves. Make this into a video and you have a memento that lives on forever. A good laugh cures many illnesses.
6. Send out a Video Card via DVD or email to your Clients. Allow different employees to contribute for different clients. Your video card will stand out from the pack of paper cards and help build stronger brand recognition

These are great practices that will help keep your employees motivated during the holidays. Many of these ideas can be continued all throughout the year to strengthen the community and loyalty within your organization.