Let’s be honest, the year that will soon be coming to a close was another rollercoaster ride that none of us could have predicted! Having navigated our way through the previous one, we had hoped for a return to some sort of normality, yet we found ourselves living within a still evolving personal and professional landscape. Against such a backdrop, at the time of year when it is usual to review and reflect before we re-set, how can you create an environment at your company or organization to ensure your employees close the year in positive style?

Let’s Notice What’s Good!

We humans have something called ‘negativity bias’ which is a heightened awareness of that which is negative or bad. It was no bad thing when it came to survival in our earliest times, it served us well! But research undertaken by positive psychologists and social scientists is revealing something interesting; if we are to live most happily and give ourselves the best opportunity to thrive, we need to counteract this aspect of our brain’s way of keeping us safe. We attach more importance to negative things than we do to positive or neutral things, and we tend to dwell more on our negative experiences too. Quite simply, we need to put effort into consciously noticing what’s good, and Eloops is here to help!

We have created a fresh new collection of content items to help you & your workforce close the year in positive style together. Choose from this engaging range of challenges and quizzes that invite everyone to participate, wherever they are. Through sharing you can generate greater connection and sense of community, you can learn and have fun together, and all help each other to notice what’s good!

• Best View Of 2021 Challenge – get people scrolling through their photo stream to share what inspired them
• Best TV Of 2021 Challenge – build a list of recommendations for ‘cosying-up on the sofa’ season
• Best Song Of 2021 Challenge – create your very own playlist based on your employees’ favorites
• Best Moment Of 2021 Challenge – an invitation to share their most positive moments and experiences

• True Or False Headlines Quiz – a fun item about what REALLY happened in 2021 (or not!)
• #YouMadeMyYear Recognition Challenge – time for your employees to recognize the people who make a difference for them at work
• New Year’s Resolutions Quiz With Tips – a fun facts guessing game plus some practical tips to help resolutions ‘stick’ this time
• Fizz Quiz – all about champagne; there’s nothing like bubbles to create a celebratory mood (and especially on New Year’s Eve)

The final month of the year also provides plenty of additional special opportunities to keep things positive!

• The entire month is designated Pears Month so of course we have created an All About Pears Quiz
• 12/3 is Make A Gift Day – let’s see your employees’ DIY Gift-making skills
• 12/6 is Disney Day – guess which movie with only emojis for clues
• 12/12 is Candle Lighting Day – see who can get to the top of this quiz’s leaderboard at the speed of light

• 12/16 is Regifting Day – let’s share some funny ‘awkward moment’ stories
• 12/18 is Bake Cookies Day – take a bite out of this Cookie Quiz
• 12/25 is Christmas! Simulate visiting each other’s homes in your feed with a Share Your Christmas Tree Challenge and get everyone singing with a Christmas Songs Quiz
• 12/26 is Thank You Note Day – time for a special recognition challenge…

The Power Of Thank You

You may have noticed we are rather keen on ‘Recognition’ at Eloops! We look for ways to develop content items that make it easy for you to build and strengthen a culture of appreciation in your work environment. Why? Because feeling unrecognized and a lack of appreciation is a prevalent cause of disengagement, and has become a prime reason cited for people quitting their jobs.

It is easy to relate to these sentiments; at the simplest human level we all know what a difference someone simply saying ‘thank you’ can make, and equally how the lack of a ‘thank you’ makes us feel. Appreciation is essential for a healthy work environment. We therefore encourage everyone to make the most of the opportunity of Thank You Note Day on 12/26 and make use of the item we have especially designed for you to do so! There are powerful psychological and emotional benefits for both the giver and receiver of a ‘thank you’, and research has revealed this is just as true whether the ‘thank you’ is delivered in-person, just verbally, or by other means.

You can read best practices for the comprehensive Peer 2 Peer Recognition tool Eloops makes available to make Recognition easy and consistent across your workforce here.

Enjoy ensuring you and your workforce close 2021 in positive style with Eloops!

Eloops customers have access to all of this new content in their dashboards now. If you’d like to be able to generate this kind of positivity year-round for your workforce and powerfully boost employee engagement at your company, we are waiting to hear from you!