Christmas Closure: What Every Business Should Know

The 2022 holiday season is fast approaching and as a business owner, you need to be sure that your company is ready for that welcome closure period at the end of what tends to be a busier season with each passing year. During the festive months, things can get chaotic to say the least and you need to ensure that you are prepared to get through these challenging times.

How is your company preparing for yet another period of increased sick time, callouts, and vacation planning within your employee community against the backdrop of continued global economic challenges? Are you prepared to meet consumer demands this holiday shopping season? Is your organization still dealing with COVID-related onsite staff shortages? 

 

Taking the time to analyze your business properly and answer these questions properly is crucial to your success this season. Planning ahead really is essential if you want to make it through the holiday season unscathed. Nowadays, many organizations have started to use rostering software to better manage their teams at this demanding time of the year. This is a great way to effectively meet staffing challenges head-on, especially when planning operations during the most important time of the year.

Remember, that when all of the madness is over, it’s completely normal for businesses to shut down for a while to give their team, themselves, and their business as a whole a chance to recharge and reset. Planning for the Christmas and New Year’s day closure is just as important as preparing for handling the busy holiday rush at your business premises.

 

Let’s take a look at some useful tips that will help you prepare for shutting your business down for the holiday season. 

 

Provide Staff Rotation In Advance 

Your team will no doubt be counting down the days to the annual closure of your business. They will likely be trying to plan their holiday time so they can get the very most out of the celebrations. Providing your team with their work schedules in advance will allow them to plan their time off with more confidence and can be a major boost to morale.

If you have digitized your employee rostering, you will be able to keep your team up-to-date on any last-minute changes or even allow team members to swap shifts with one another through the platform, making your life much easier at this busy time of the year. Rostering software improves employee engagement, allowing your team to communicate directly through the platform to stay up-to-date with any amendments to the schedule rotation. 

 

Let Your Customers Know 

 

If you are planning to close for the holidays, it’s vital that you let your customers know well in advance. The last thing that you want is for your loyal clients to turn up to the door of your business over the Christmas period to find the building locked and no explanation. If you send out an annual holiday email to your customer, take this opportunity to let them know about the closure dates. In this day and age, it should go without saying but it’s always a good idea to update your social media accounts to inform your customers about the business closure.

Finally, make sure you put up some signage around the business premises in the run-up to the closure to ensure everyone knows about the change of business hours. And, make sure to update your Google My Business page too. 

 

Plan Your Shutdown 

 

Once your employees and your customers are aware of the holiday closure, you can start putting plans in place. Making a list of all of the things that you need to do when the big day comes is always a wise move. First, take the time to walk around the premises and identify any non-essential equipment that can be powered off while the business is closed. All of the lights should also be turned off while you are away from the workplace and make sure that you turn down the thermostat so that the heating is not running when there’s no one there.

Finally, record a new voicemail and set up an out-of-office email to let anyone trying to reach you know when you will be back to work. Now that your list is prepared, you can simply mark off each of these tasks on the final day of work for the year and look forward to the Christmas and New Year closure with confidence. 

 

Make Sure Your Business Is Ready For The Christmas Closure This Year 

Closing down for a little while during the holiday season is par for the course in many industries. If you are planning a Christmas and New Years closure this year, be sure to follow the tips outlined above. With the right approach, you can ensure that your closure goes as smoothly as possible and that you and your team are ready to enjoy the festive season ahead, worry-free.

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Business Opportunities · Find Your Way · Grow your business · Leadership

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Find Your Way · Grow Your Business · Leading Your Team

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