December is here! It’s the season of holidays and holiday bustle, never-ending cookie swaps, work deadlines and budget meetings, social and family commitments, sneezes, flus, and, often, stress. Add the random office decoration or ugly sweater competition, and your employees might feel more stress than connection. We’re not trying to Grinch our way through the season, but we do know what a financial, physical, and emotional strain the end of the year can be for many. So, to keep your employees’ spirits up, we thought we’d jump on the holiday bandwagon and bring you a little musical, engagement fun. What do your employees really want this holiday?

Is work-life balance a thing of the past? (We certainly discuss it a lot on this blog). In HR circles, work-life integration (WLI) is emerging – the idea that work is a key part of life and vice-versa, and finding space for both can improve the employee experience, employee engagement , and performance. Though we’re not quite ready to let go of work-life balance, we believe it’s important to recognize these growing trends in organizational structure.

We discuss the value of great leaders a lot. In fact, managers, immediate supervisors, and organization leaders are the single biggest variable when it comes to setting the tone for the employee experience. So, do employees quit their bosses? Well, yes. (This is backed by statistics and studies.) So, conversely, will employees stay at work because of great leadership?

There is no great film or story without a great villain or conflict. But when the drama and villainous behavior seep into the workplace, your organization culture suffers. Absenteeism due to illness will increase; productivity will decrease; top talent will leave. And people will, unfortunately, loathe coming to work. In a month of monsters and villains, we want to share the top toxic behaviors of coworkers and/or managers and how to combat them.

While it may seem like the latest HR buzzword, employee experience goes beyond the latest business trends. As we continue to study what drives organizational success, it's clear that creating a positive employee experience is fundamental. “Employee experience has become a critical element of the work experience as employees believe (find meaning), become (learn and grow), and belong (connect with others). Employee experience is a lead indicator of customer experience and investor confidence.”