Employee motivation: Blue Monday will be the biggest challenge

Date: 11/01/2012

Research has shown that the day in which employee motivation strategies are most needed is January 16th.

It has been dubbed Blue Monday and is considered to be the most depressing day of the year for staff up and down the country.

This is through a combination of things, which group together making this seemingly insignificant day near the beginning of the year a miserable one.

It comes after the excitement of the Christmas period has passed and employees are faced with nothing but the cost to contend with and payday is still a while off.

Workers are not buoyed by the sense of a new year beginning anymore and the opportunity to catch up with colleagues, as well as the fact that by the 16th many people have seen their optimistic resolutions go by the wayside.

What is more, January is a month in which we feel that the winter has gone on for too long, yet summer still feels a long way off.

So as staff battle with the fact that the days are short and the weather bleak, it is important to motivate employees at this time of year.

There are a variety of different ways to do this, but engaging with staff and making them feel valued and part of an organisation that listens will help to promote a positive attitude.

One approach which has been suggested is to allow staff to personalise their office space to a certain degree and make it more cheerful.

Kenneth Freeman, international technical director for Ambius, said: "Creating an engaging workspace is key to business success. Even if it's as simple as introducing plants, from our research, people report being happier at work, more engaged with their employer, and are visibly more effective in doing their jobs."

With many businesses not having plenty of money at the moment, a small amount spent on plants and new artwork can go a long way.

Employees can become so used to their surroundings that they barely notice them anymore, so change the surroundings even just a little bit and this will help wake them from their reverie.

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