When your employees are at the highest productivity levels, they are learning new things, growing in their careers and meeting hard deadlines that have been set for them. During these times, they are completely engaged and fulfilled because they are highly motivated. Also, these same employees have a huge positive impact on a constantly increasing high production of goods and services and the bottom line, too.

Though this scenario sounds like any bosses' ultimate utopia, one of the first questions is, how do you achieve this state of high productivity for your employees, particularly into the New Year. For those of you who are interested in learning what you can do to have such an impact on your own workgroup, here are a few tips on how to get things started.

A holiday party to close out the year is a must to gain camaraderie and appreciation among your employees. Finding fun team building activities to get your employees talking to one another will not only help strengthen loyalty to your company but strengthen the loyalty among coworkers. Simple things such as bringing in sweets, giving out company apparel, and hosting meetings in fun locations will make a difference in your employees outlook going into the end of the year. 

As mentioned before, highly motivated employees are engaged and fulfilled when they are doing their best, and you can capitalize on keeping this momentum going if you know what to do. It is during these times, even a little appreciation goes a long way and there are so many ways to do it. Depending upon work culture and your budget allocations, you can reward high performers with a special unexpected financial treat in the form of an end of year bonus. These awards may be provided for individuals as a great way to show appreciation for the entire work. However, you arrange it, these are excellent motivation strategies that take your employees from the end of the year motivated into the New Year.

At the end of the year productivity levels have already been set and you are already under the gun to get things done. Unfortunately, even though this is true, work and personal life is still important to the well being of your employees. Therefore, in your pre-planning for the end of year season, it is important that you do not keep your workgroup manning too tight to be flexible. Your employees will not only appreciate it, but they can also support this type of management style. Simply put, the flexibility is a necessity in keeping the motivation and productivity levels high. If not, many of your employees will more than likely feel the unnecessary tension and added stress levels that are put on the group, and your productivity levels can easily drop to a ‘not doing more than I need to get by’ environment.

If you plan it right on the front end, you can set the stage to motivate your employees in the office and on the outside, too. For example, to make sure everyone can make the most of the end of the year holiday season with their families at home and their extended work family at the office, it is important to develop a work coverage plan that encourages your employees to take time off. Because everyone cannot be off at the same time, give them an opportunity to pick and choose time off based on personal preferences and seniority to avoid any conflicts. For most work groups, this is an excellent way to motivate the group to be loyal in their homes and at the office while they are on the job.

As you move into the new year, you need to let employees know what is expected going forward. Employees need to know how well the company is doing and how their jobs will be impacted. For instance, you can use several different strategies to keep everyone on their toes. Here are a few ideas for beginning year promotional strategies.

- Award employees for their high performance

- Let Employees know, as a Team. what has been accomplished and how their efforts fit into the company's overall goals and objectives

- Update the group on the Next Year's Initiatives for the company as it relates to their job 

Caring for your employees goes a long way in creating loyalty to your company. If your employees are loyal, they will want Loyal employees will often give you their best work. End this year on a high note, so  your productivity stays on track going into 2020.