The leaves are starting to change, and we’ve begun to see advent calendars and Christmas themed items creeping onto the shelves at the local supermarket. This can only mean one thing; Christmas is coming soon!
It’s always a busy time of year, so the best thing to do is to start preparing for the Christmas season now! Here’s a list of ways to be prepared.
- Book Time Off in Advance – Everyone wants time off to spend with their family and friends during the Christmas period. This means that dates around the festive period are booked very quickly. If you have specific dates that you want to have off, book them as early in advance as you can. Leaving it to the last minute could mean that you won’t be able to get your key days off.
- Get Your Flu Jab – Winter bugs cause hundreds of thousands of people to need time off work every year. Getting the Flu can leave you bedbound for up to a week with symptoms of sickness, fever, fatigue, painful joints and stomach pain. As a carer, you are entitled to receive a free flu jab from your local pharmacy or doctors surgery. This will help prevent you from catching the flu, even if you are caring for someone who has the flu.
- Overtime – During the Christmas period, overtime and covering colleagues shifts is often needed across every industry sector, however, it is vitally important in care. With many staff members having booked time off and some staff needing time off for illness, it can leave many care agencies understaffed. If you are able to make yourself as flexible as possible at certain times in the event of needing to cover someone’s shift, your colleagues and managers would all be grateful.
- Help Your Customers Plan – Christmas can be quite a disconcerting time for some customers, the streets are generally busier and nosier, which can make anyone who is elderly or vulnerable feel anxious. Helping your customers plan for the Christmas period can help them feel at ease and give a bit of structure to their days. Help them arrange visits from their families, identify what times their favourite shows are going to be on television, let them know if there are any firework shows coming up and if they don’t want visitors like carollers make sure to put up notices in the windows.
Christmas is a great time for you
to go above and beyond for your customers, especially those who don’t have much
family. Get involved and help make their Christmas memorable!
Start putting plans in place now to ensure that both you and your customers
have a great Christmas!
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