While the holiday season brings joy to many, some feel like they're employed by Scrooge when they get stuck working rather than celebrating. But with planning and preparation, a proactive manager can keep the "bah humbugs" to a minimum and the workplace running smoothly this holiday season.

"You're not going to make everyone happy, but by developing a system that people are aware of well before the holidays, you can eliminate any negative reaction when people are denied time off," says Kathy Gillen, a business coach who with consults managers across the country through her company, The GillenGroup.

Plan Ahead

"I think planning is the key for any organization ahead of the holidays," says Andrew Schmitz, president and COO of Jean Thorne Inc., a full-service staffing organization. "By November 1, companies should have proactively gone to their employees and tried to nail down their staff's planned time-off schedules through the end of the year. A business needs to be flexible, not only with the national holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, but Hanukkah and the other religious holidays that many of your diverse staff might be celebrating this season."

Gillen says that while many managers send emails to employees asking for the dates they need off, it can be a nightmare coordinating everything. She offers this advice from a manager in Atlanta, who has had great success with such a plan:

• Schedule a time to meet to discuss this topic.
• Attach a December calendar to the meeting invitation so employees can check with their families about upcoming events requiring time off, such as school programs, concerts and family trips.
• At the meeting, have a master calendar, preferably an erasable white board style. Employees fill in the dates they need or want off.
• Issues are brought up immediately, and negotiation is allowed during the meeting.
• Keep the tone positive. Ask everyone to be flexible and cooperative.

Be Fair and Consistent

Another expert thinks each organization needs to figure out a holiday schedule that suits both company and staff needs.

"These days, with our Indy 500 approach to work, comfort becomes even more elusive during the holiday season," says Jim Schaffer, who has been managing people in the software and advertising media business for more than 25 years and is president of Jim Schaffer & Associates, a Newton, Massachusetts-based company that helps management teams and salespeople stay focused and get results. "No matter how efficient we become, relationships still drive the world."

Schmitz says his company developed a fair time-off plan that takes advantage of the business cycle's slow times around the holidays. This means his business stays closed on the Friday after Thanksgiving, with no clients complaining.

"Until the mid-'90s, we would open up on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and the phone would ring twice, so we have moved to a current two-day holiday/four-day weekend," says Schmitz.

Schmitz says organizations that must be open on Christmas or any other holiday should take a systematic approach to allocating time off. Companies can give priority based on tenure, last year's schedule, rotating between the holidays or first to request time off. But whatever method is used, he adds, apply it consistently.

"Your clients understand time off is a fact of life during the holidays, and they'll understand if their normal representative is off," says Schmitz. "But make sure you get those phones answered."