Has this ever happened to you? You come into the office the week after the holidays, and the energy level among your employees is noticeably lower. Your accounting team isn’t as chatty. They take a longer time to make coffee or eat their lunches. Their productivity isn’t what it was a couple of weeks earlier.

In fact, you might even have fallen prey to this slump yourself, shutting your office door and spending some time browsing post-holiday sales rather than getting down to the more demanding tasks of your day like forecasting or working on your annual budget.

The post-holiday blues are a very common phenomenon in the workplace, and for obvious reasons. There’s so much to look forward to during December – parties, Secret Santas, days off from work – that once it’s all over, you can be left feeling a little glum.

But your workplace doesn’t have to fall victim to the post-holiday blues (or at least, not for very long). You can help pull your employees out of the slump with just a bit of creativity and effort. Here are a few workforce management tips you can use:

• Give your team something to look forward to.

That’s what December is all about, after all: anticipation. When there’s suddenly nothing fun or exciting to anticipate anymore, people tend to feel a bit let down. So plan something simple, like having a catered breakfast brought in on a Friday morning. It will help your employees shake off some of that negativity and focus more on their work.

• Be spontaneous.

We’re not talking about sending everyone home in the middle of the day, but a small, pleasant surprise can work wonders for employee morale. Struck by a sudden coffee craving? Bring some back for the office and give them a break from the Mr. Coffee machine. Have a bunch of extra Christmas cookies at home? Bring them to work and encourage your office or department to take a quick cookie break to get up from their desks and socialize.

• Offer a professional development opportunity early in the year.

If you’re finding that employees aren’t jumping into their tasks with their usual skill or enthusiasm, consider offering a day of professional development. Not only will it break up the typical workplace monotony, it will help employees re-focus themselves on their jobs and learn something new.

• Encourage mindfulness at work.

We can all benefit from this practice. It’s easy to fall into a somewhat mindless routine at work – we get to our desks, check email, read a few news articles, and then settle into whatever tasks appear before us. It’s a very reactive mode of working, but it’s something we all do.

Instead, encourage your employees to spend the first few minutes of the day setting goals, organizing their computer or desk, or thinking strategically about their day. You could even host one-on-one or small group meetings during which you ask your employees to set attainable goals for month, quarter, or year. If you can, share a goal of yours too – maybe you’d like to practice more strategic budgeting, or expand your knowledge through reading or listening to a financial podcast.

• Encourage employees to go outside.

Going outside for a quick break and breathing in fresh air has been proven to re-energize the brain and relax your nervous system, according to this Entrepreneur article. You could also integrate walking meetings if possible, which will give you and your employees the double benefit of fresh outdoor air and exercise.

• Be more flexible with scheduling.

This might not work for every business, but if you can exercise a little leniency in the first week or two after the holidays, you’re almost certain to end up with happier, more productive employees. Perhaps that means letting them work from home for a day or two per week. Maybe it’s allowing them to cut out an hour or two early if they’ve finished what they need to for the day. Being flexible means different things for different businesses, but it’s a great way to help ease employees back into their work.

And flexibility isn’t just for scheduling. If you’re looking to bring some more flexibility into your budgeting, try True Sky – designed as a budgeting and forecasting solution to help make the budgeting process easier, faster, and more efficient. Take a look at some of True Sky’s features, and contact us to learn more!