-This article was last updated on 23 September 2021-
The post Christmas and New Year indulgences on both the waistline and the bank balance can leave many feeling a little sullen. Combined with dark cold days and going back to work can often induce the ‘January Blues’. This widespread feeling can also transfer to businesses with many employees experiencing a ‘motivational slump’. It does not have to be this way though; in fact you can make January the most exciting month of year.
Feeling slightly dazed after the whirlwind of December, it is not surprising that a lot of employees are lacking direction and focus for the New Year ahead. As such, it is important to view January as a benchmark for the rest of the year and an essential time to drum up that much needed enthusiasm.
Create a road map for the year ahead
One way you can do this is by providing your employees with an exciting road map for the year ahead. This will help outline the key objectives for the business and re-affirm the crucial role your employees play in achieving these important goals. Setting out exciting projects for your employees to get stuck into, will also help overcome the lethargic pace of January and maintain focus for the rest of the year.
Re-evaluate the business processes
January is arguably one of the most important months for strategic business planning. In order to move your business forward with exciting new projects, it is good practice to continually re-evaluate the business processes you already have in place. Reviewing any methods that may be outdated and time-consuming to your business will guarantee that you are utilising all of your employee’s time efficiently. Introducing more streamlined systems will allow your business to focus more of its resources on bigger and better business opportunities for your employees.
Implement a business expense system
One process that often results in consuming large amounts of employee time is business expenses. This is one area where an automated and streamlined system will certainly benefit. In a month where employee morale may be already low this is a perfect time to implement such a change. A report by Pay Stream Advisors (2016) found that businesses that adopted an expense management system produced a 9% increase in employee satisfaction ratings.
Adopting a cloud-based expense system that gets rid of manual data entry and time-consuming spreadsheets, ensures that employee resources are never wasted. By using ExpenseIn to snap your receipts, create fast approvals and integrate straight into accounting packages you can speed up the expense process. Quicker reimbursements mean a happier workforce!
January may be cold and bleak but don’t let your business suffer. By re-organising your business processes you can open up exciting new opportunities and inject some much needed motivation for the year ahead. All of this will definitely go a long way to reducing the dreaded ‘January Blues’.
