2020 Philippine Holiday Calendar and How To Keep Productivity Up During The Holidays

It’s that time of the year again! Time to send out the 13th Month bonuses and prepare for the coming year with the 2020 Philippine Holiday Calendar.

In our previous holiday posts, we’ve talked about the 13th Month, paid time off, and asking your VA to work over the holidays. Not much as changed in how things are done since we’ve written them. So you can check them out if you need more information about those topics.

What we’re going to talk about here is how you can keep your employees motivated and productive over the holidays.

This is a perennial problem. We all suffer from it. We’re all counting the days until we can go home to our families and spend quality time with them. The problem with the holiday season is that it could also be the busiest time for some businesses. If a good portion of your sales comes from holiday shoppers, you can’t afford for your team of Filipino virtual assistants to slack off.

So what can you do to make sure that your team and your business continues to run smoothly over the holidays?

 

Establish a clear holiday and PTO policies

Once you start hiring a virtual assistant, you need to establish a schedule and policies on holidays and PTO. If you don’t have any policies in place, you can use our post on paid time off as a guide to get you started. Having a policy in place would help you avoid surprises like all your employees take leaves at the same time or not preparing for overtime pay.

 

Communicate what needs to be done over the holidays

In an ideal world, we all could take a vacation during the holidays, But, in a lot of cases, the holidays won’t stop customers from coming in. and nobody is going to want to do more than they absolutely have to. So to make things easier for everyone, be clear about what kind of work needs to be done over the holidays and avoid adding any unnecessary work. As much as possible, push all non-essential tasks until after the holidays. By then, your team would be rested and ready to take on more work.

 

Prepare shift schedules early

One way to make working over the holidays more tolerable is by sharing the load. By distributing the holiday shifts early, you’re giving your VAs time to plan around work and really enjoy the holidays.

 

Show some appreciation.

Another way to make working off the holidays more palatable is when you get some appreciation for the work you’re doing. This is where the 13th Month pay comes in. A quick email thanking your team over the holidays
goes a long way.

 

Pay them early!

The holidays is also one of the hardest times to send money to the Philippines. Overseas workers send more during this time. The back to back banking holidays add more bottlenecks in the process. So avoid the rush. Send salaries and bonuses as early as possible.

To get the most out of this blog post, we suggest you bookmark this and our calendar so you can be ready when the holidays come in. So don’t worry. With preparation and communication, you and your virtual assistant/s can have a stress free and profitable holiday season.

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About Julia Jasmine M. Sta Romana

Julia has been working for OnlineJobs.ph since 2012, first as a writer and now as its social media manager and content development specialist. She also founded the Davao Virtual Assistants Association, the biggest VA association in Davao City.

She’s a full-time wife and mom and volunteers her time as an internet rights advocate.