Holiday Stress at Work: What Works for HR & What Doesn’t

Between the twinkle of sparkling lights and festive cheer, a hard truth about the holiday season shines clear: Stress doesn’t take a holiday.

The season brings added events, financial worries, and family dynamics—all of which can spill over into the workplace. HR professionals often shoulder the challenge of supporting their workforce through these stressors, navigating a season filled with high expectations and competing priorities.

While there are many ways to address holiday stress, not all approaches are created equal. The question is: what truly works?

Understanding Holiday Stress

For nine in ten adults, holiday-related concerns cause stress at this time of year, according to research by the American Psychological Association (APA).

The APA reports that the top holiday stressors are:

• Spending too much or not having enough money
• Finding the right gifts
• Missing family or loved ones
• Having too much to do
• Feeling pressure to make the holidays special

Holiday Stress and Mental Health

Additional mental health challenges might come into play, making it harder for employees to cope. Factors like loneliness or Seasonal Affective Disorder, a type of depression that occurs at certain times of the year, may complicate the experience of stress.

When left unmanaged, holiday-related stress can lead to burnout, decreased productivity, and low employee morale. Employees who are burned out may experience symptoms ranging from difficulty concentrating and remembering things, to headaches and insomnia, affecting their work performance and overall wellbeing.

What works: Effective strategies for managing holiday stress

How can you support your people during this busy period? The key is proactive support that helps employees manage stress before it escalates.

1. Personalized mental health resources 

According to a 2024 workplace wellness survey, one in four employees would like more benefits or resources for mental and emotional wellbeing. Take it a step further with personalized resources, tools, and training, which are more relevant for individuals and their particular needs.

Personalized support can include self-guided digital programs, individualized care plans based on assessments, and options for family-inclusive support.

2. Providing flexibility

Advocate for flexible work schedules to accommodate personal commitments during the holidays. To encourage employees to recharge, consider sending a reminder about using their remaining vacation days.

Dr. Ryan Todd, psychiatrist and headversity co-founder, recommends encouraging employees to maintain their routines, particularly sleep schedules, so they can get rest during the holidays and come back refreshed. Where possible, reducing commitments during the holidays allows individuals to free up some time for themselves.

3. Leadership training and support

Provide training for leaders on how to recognize signs of stress and support their teams effectively. Learn more about our TEAM training, where leaders can develop skills for managing stress, preventing burnout, and supporting the mental health of their teams.

It’s also important to get leadership buy-in for mental wellness programs. For example, a critical infrastructure provider partnered with headversity and gained full executive leadership support, integrating the training into their safety program. The company’s employees experienced an 11% improvement in confidence when facing challenges, goals, and stressful situations.

4. Financial wellness initiatives

With money as the number one stressor during the holidays, it’s important to support employees’ financial wellbeing. Dr. Todd emphasizes addressing the root causes of money stress, including helping individuals get visibility into their personal finances and pay down debt.

You can provide training or resources for budgeting and financial planning during the holiday season and into the new year.

5. Employee recognition

Recognizing and thanking employees for their contributions can go a long way. Researchers have found that this type of verbal recognition helps increase motivation and prevent burnout—a win-win for employees and your organization.

What works: Effective strategies for managing holiday stress

Relying on surface-level solutions or ignoring the root causes of holiday stress can leave employees feeling unsupported and overwhelmed.

1. Unrealistic Expectations

It’s tempting to have one final push to meet end-of-year quotas and deadlines. But for most, this creates an unrealistic workload on top of their existing work and personal obligations.

Instead, collaborate with leaders to identify urgent, non-negotiable work versus what can reasonably be postponed until the new year. Facilitate open communication about workload, deadlines, and mental wellbeing.

2. Encouraging constant availability

In the same vein, requirements to respond or be always-on during the holiday period add pressure on employees. Promote alignment by establishing a reasonable response time and any exceptions, then communicate it in advance to your workforce.

3. Over-reliance on fun events

Holiday parties or team-building activities are enjoyable, but they may not address underlying causes of stress during the holidays. They can even feel exclusionary to those who don’t celebrate certain holidays or who are overwhelmed by social obligations.

Specify that holiday events are optional to attend and promote inclusion by welcoming different traditions. Ultimately, holiday activities and parties should be an add-on rather than a foundational strategy for mitigating stress.

4. One-size-fits-all approaches

One-size-fits-all approaches might include standardized break schedules and generic mental health benefits or training plans. These strategies are less effective because they don’t consider each person’s unique challenges, needs, and coping methods.

For example, mothers are twice as likely as fathers to report high levels of holiday stress. While mothers tend to find relief through family support, fathers view work as a stress-reliever.

Your organization can tailor initiatives to meet diverse needs by seeking input from employees through surveys, group discussions, or one-on-one conversations.

5. Reactive support 

Employees are more likely to feel overwhelmed and burned out if support isn’t offered early.

On the other hand, a study of nearly 19,000 people found that proactive stress management practices had a greater association with positive outcomes, like happiness and professional success, than reactive approaches.

Simply put, don’t wait until it’s too late. “Focus on proactive strategies to build a positive work environment and equip employees with the skills to manage stress,” says Dr. Todd.

Less holiday stress: Personalized and proactive support

HR can truly lead the way in fostering a supportive work environment during the holidays, setting your people and organization up for success in the new year.

headversity offers personalized, proactive training solutions designed to equip every employee to master stress, conquer burnout, and rise stronger to any challenge. Our platform tailors learning to each employee’s needs, ensuring resources are relevant and actionable.

Get more insights in our webinar, Stress Less: HR Strategies for Managing Workplace Stress.