15 ways to motivate your staff at Christmas

One of the absolute pleasures of shopping in an independent food and drink store is the customer service. Being able to talk to staff who can speak in an informed, knowledgeable way about producers and ingredients enhances the experience, and is one of the biggest reasons for farm shop, deli and food hall visits. 

It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind madness of the festive season, with so much to think about and plan for across the shop floor, but business owners and managers shouldn’t forget to check in with their employees. How are they feeling? Have they been upskilled to sell the new seasonal stock? Do they understand their importance to shoppers who, at this time of year, might need extra guidance and expertise? 

While retailers will obviously be delighted by increased Christmas sales, with consumers spending considerably more on products and services, Edward Berry of The Flying Fork says the added pressures aren’t always welcomed by the wider team. “Queues, new product lines, long hours, stressed shoppers, complaints, constantly restocking – these are the many different things that can create turmoil,” he explains.

Having a plan of action and being prepared for the busy months to come could pay huge dividends. Speciality Food finds out, from retailers, and leadership coaches, the best approaches to take this Christmas.

15 of the best ways to motivate your staff

Stefano Cuomo, CEO, Macknade

1. Plan as early and deeply as possible. This not only gets staff and customers thinking, helping sales, but spreads the load for the team, taking off pressure.

2. Focus. Don’t do stuff because ‘we always have’. Identify and dump the small stuff that takes teams time, but adds no real value to the customer experience and bottom line.

3. Have a mission and purpose. At Macknade our purpose is to bring the community together through incredible food and drink, and nothing does this more than Christmas. It is who we are and, when done and dusted, as a team we can look at each other and know the impact we have made on so many people over the Christmas period. It is a wonderful feeling that is best shared. The true meaning of community that cannot be beaten.

Edward Berry, The Flying Fork

4. Ensure your existing employees are used to maximum effect over the Christmas period. Your rotas and staff schedules must be well planned if you want your organisation to run smoothly. Christmas in retail means all hands on deck. It’s not the time for experimenting with roles, or mixing casual among permanent staff. You need your best, most trusted and experienced employees front and centre. If new staff are required, then you must provide as much training as possible.

5. Ensure all are informed of your seasonal promotions, and prepared.

6. Make sure supervisors and management are on hand and visible to support and deal with issues swiftly.

7. Start preparing as early as possible and make sure all understand the importance of working together over the busiest times. Schedule meetings with staff, spelling out what the demands will be, and provide clear guidelines for employees to follow over the busy period.

8. Ask for suggestions from staff regarding planning your shop for the festive season, particularly those who have worked with you before. You might be surprised how much they have to offer – after all, they see customer reactions at close quarters and are usually the first to hear complaints. Take their views seriously and show them you value their opinions.

9. As far as possible, try to make Christmas enjoyable for your staff too. Organise at least one event for your team. You might offer some seasonal discount vouchers too.

10. Just being a generally nice human is so valuable. Tell employees what a great job they’re doing, and show them you appreciate them.

Tony Moorcroft, Coast Consulting

11. As a manager or owner you have the biggest impact on how long people stick around in your organisation. Taking a conscious approach to how you lead can have big positive impacts on motivation, productivity and profitability.

12. Ensure expectations are clear and that you’re on the same page about the outcome. This will save tears and time later. One of the biggest drivers of people leaving organisations is not having clarity of what’s expected, so give clear goals, examples of what a good job looks like, and set them up to succeed.

13. Adapt your style. One size of leadership doesn’t fit everyone. Flex your approach depending on competence and commitment. Increase direction when people haven’t done a task before, don’t make assumptions about what people need, and don’t mistake commitment for competence – they’re two very different things.

14. Monitor performance. Agree how and how often you will review how staff are getting on. Don’t throw people in the deep end as it sets them up to fail, lose commitment and lose trust in you. Check in with them on progress so you can appreciate and acknowledge what they’re doing right, coach and correct them if they’re off target, maximise success and accelerate their development.

15. Evaluate your staff fairly. If you do the above there will be no surprises when you assess how they are doing.