Effective HR planning is the cornerstone of a thriving organisation. There is no better time to map out your HR calendar to ensure a productive, engaged, and motivated workforce throughout the year. Here is a guide to help you create an optimised HR calendar and make the most of tools like Alkimii People to enhance your planning.
A well-organised HR calendar not only helps streamline operations but also fosters better communication and alignment across teams. It ensures that important dates, initiatives, and compliance deadlines are not overlooked while enabling proactive workforce management. Planning early is an important touch appreciated by your team, allowing them sufficient time to prepare for team engagement activities for example.
When planning your HR calendar, it is essential to include these categories:
Identify public holidays and encourage employees to plan their time off early. Sharing your holiday policies ahead of time allows your team to understand how the year will unfold and prevent any surprises or disappointments.
Use tools like Alkimii People’s scheduling features to streamline leave requests and approvals.
Keep employees informed by scheduling payroll dates throughout the year. This also assists with forecasting payroll spend against projected revenue in each period.
Plan quarterly or biannual performance reviews. Use Alkimii’s tools to set up reminders and track goals!
Read more: The Impact Of Check-Ins On Employee Retention In Hospitality
Schedule team-building activities, wellness programmes, and training sessions. Align these with your organisation’s objectives and employee feedback.
Some examples may include:
Gratitude Wall: Set up a board where team members can post what makes them happy or what they’re grateful for.
Random Acts of Kindness Challenge: Encourage employees to perform small acts of kindness for each other or customers throughout the day.
Healthy Cooking Demo: Arrange for your chef to share recipes or host a live healthy cooking class.
Move More Challenge: Organise a step-count competition for the week leading up to this day, with small prizes for the most active participants.
Comedy Hour: Host a live or virtual stand-up comedy session or share funny team stories.
Funniest Team Meme Contest: Encourage the team to create light-hearted memes about work or their daily lives, with a prize for the funniest.
Photo Contest: Ask employees to share family photos (with their consent) and display them in a "family gallery."
Parenting Workshop: Offer a session on balancing work and family life with a family therapist or coach.
Morning Yoga Session: Host a group yoga session.
Mindfulness Hour: Dedicate time for a guided meditation or mindfulness practice during work hours.
Team-Building Activities: Host games that encourage collaboration, such as escape rooms or trivia competitions.
Friendship Tree: Set up a symbolic tree or board where team members can hang messages or drawings representing their connections.
Conflict Resolution Workshop: Offer training on fostering a peaceful workplace environment.
Charity Drive: Partner with an organisation that promotes peace, such as a local refugee support group, and host a donation campaign.
Smile Campaign: Give out smiley face stickers or goodies to brighten everyone’s day.
Smiles for Charity: Donate to a charity for every smiley selfie shared by team members with a dedicated hashtag.
Appreciation Day: Write thank-you notes to team members recognising their efforts and impact.
Volunteer Day: Organise a team activity to give back to the community, such as helping at a local food bank or charity.
Check out Alkimii Employee Engagement here!
Plan for mandatory training sessions such as GDPR, health and safety, or diversity training. Ensure you always have a fire warden and first aider on duty with Alkimii’s Rostering tool.
Identify peak recruitment periods and align them with onboarding sessions to ensure new hires feel welcomed and equipped.
Utilise feedback tools, such as Alkimii Surveys, to understand what matters most to your employees. By involving your workforce in the planning process, you ensure their needs and preferences are considered.
While having a structured calendar is crucial, it is equally important to allow room for unexpected opportunities or challenges.
A robust HR calendar is only as effective as the insights behind it. Alkimii Surveys and Polls, part of the Alkimii People platform, can elevate your planning by providing actionable employee feedback. Here is how:
Enhanced Insight: Gain a deeper understanding of your organisation by collecting valuable employee feedback.
Once your calendar is finalised, keep your team informed and engaged by using Alkimii News to post updates about upcoming activities. This ensures everyone stays aligned and excited about what is ahead.
Planning your HR calendar for 2025 is an opportunity to set your organisation up for success. By involving your team through tools like Alkimii Surveys and keeping everyone informed via Alkimii News, you create a collaborative, transparent, and proactive HR strategy.
Start planning today and make 2025 a year of growth and achievement for your organisation – download our Alkimii People brochure.
Ready now? Request a free, personalised demo with Alkimii!