Your 2024 End-of-Year Team To-Do List

As 2024 comes to a close, business owners and leaders are preparing to wrap up the year while also setting their teams up for success in 2025.

The final weeks of the year are an ideal time to celebrate your team’s hard work, ensure compliance with the latest regulations, and start planning for what’s next.

Here’s a checklist of sorts to help you streamline your end-of-year activities, maintain engagement through December, and lay the groundwork for a strong start in the new year.

1. Perform a Compliance Check

In 2024, there have been a range of updates to workplace laws that businesses must stay on top of (let’s be fair, that’s an understatement!).

Taking time now to review your compliance can help you avoid penalties and ensure your business starts the new year on solid legal footing.

• Employment Contracts and Policies: Ensure that all contracts reflect the latest laws, and are not falling short of your compliance obligations. This is also a time to review key policies to ensure any outdated terms are brought in line with all of the latest raft of legislative updates.
• The Right to Disconnect: Whilst for small businesses, with 14 or fewer employees, the Right to Disconnect Laws do not become compulsory until August 2025, employees are expecting to see action here. If you haven’t yet considered your compliance with The Right to Disconnect Laws, now is the time.
• Casuals and Contractors: Make sure that you review the changes to casuals and contractors, and that you have the correct engagements, documents and processes in place before the Christmas break so that you don’t have any compliance headaches to kick off the new year.

Completing a compliance review not only prepares your business for 2025 but also builds trust with your team by ensuring that you’re meeting your legal obligations.

2. Conduct a Clean Slate Exercise

The end of the year is an ideal time to re-evaluate your team structure and identify any staffing needs or adjustments for 2025. This “clean slate exercise” can provide clarity on whether your current resources are aligned with next year’s business objectives.

• Assess Team Roles and Responsibilities: Review each position to confirm that it aligns with your strategic goals for 2025. Identify any gaps or redundancies.
• Identify Skills Development Needs: Determine if certain team members would benefit from additional training or new responsibilities to meet your 2025 goals.
• Consider Upcoming Hiring Needs: Map out any new positions you anticipate needing in the new year, so you can begin the recruitment process early if required.

This proactive approach can help you ensure that your team structure is as efficient and effective as possible for 2025.

3. Close Open Loops

Throughout 2024, you may have made commitments or discussed initiatives that are still in progress.

December is a great time to follow up on these “open loops,” ensuring they don’t fall by the wayside as you enter the new year.

Touch base on any outstanding projects, promises, or commitments made during the year, such as training sessions, growth opportunities, or feedback discussions. Even if these items won’t be finalised until 2025, taking the time to acknowledge them now shows accountability and reassures your team that they haven’t been forgotten.

4. Thank Your Team

Recognition is especially impactful at the end of the year, as employees reflect on their contributions and hard work. Take a moment to thank each team member for their individual efforts throughout 2024. A personalised note, an email, or a team-wide meeting can go a long way in showing your appreciation.

Make it specific by mentioning particular achievements or qualities for each employee, so they know their work is genuinely valued. This gesture can boost morale as employees wrap up the year and start looking forward to the next.

5. Plan Key Team Events for 2025

Get a head start on scheduling important team activities for the coming year. By mapping out a calendar of key events, you can prevent last-minute conflicts and set realistic goals for your team’s development.

Some key events to schedule might include:

• Performance Reviews: Plan out performance review cycles and make sure managers are prepared to provide timely feedback.
• Training and Development Sessions: Identify training priorities early on and allocate specific months for development initiatives.
• Recruitment Periods: Anticipate when you may need to add to your team or bring on temporary help during busy periods.

A well-organised calendar helps you balance these essential activities throughout the year, giving your team time to focus on each priority without feeling overwhelmed.

6. Address Engagement and Awareness of Entitlements

Employee engagement is always important, but it can be particularly challenging to maintain during the busy end-of-year period. A Gallup study found that only about one-third of employees feel fully engaged, and disengaged employees are more likely to scrutinise their rights and entitlements.

To keep engagement high and address entitlement awareness, consider these steps:

• Open Channels for Communication: Be visible and accessible, addressing any questions team members may have about year-end processes, entitlements, or holiday scheduling.
• Set the Tone for 2025: Outline what employees can look forward to in the new year, whether it’s new benefits, projects, or team events.
• Tackle Issues Promptly: If any employee grievances have come up during 2024, try to resolve them before the holiday season. This proactive approach will set a positive tone for January.

A focus on transparency and proactive communication can help employees feel valued and engaged as they close out the year.

7. Give Employees Something to Look Forward To in 2025

As you wrap up 2024, create a sense of excitement for what’s ahead. Announce any upcoming initiatives or changes you have planned for early 2025 that will benefit the team. This could be a new professional development program, team-building activities, or an updated recognition program.

By sharing these updates now, you give employees something positive to anticipate as they head into the holidays and prepare to return in January.

8. Create Space for Year-End Reflection and Planning

While the holiday season can be busy, carve out time for strategic thinking about the year ahead. Block off a day or two—either in the office or at a different location—to evaluate 2024 and lay out your vision for 2025.

Use this time to:

• Assess 2024 Successes and Challenges: What went well this year, and what could be improved?
• Identify New Opportunities for Growth: Think about ways to expand or streamline processes in 2025.
• Establish Key Goals for 2025: Outline measurable objectives that align with your long-term vision and will help propel the business forward.

Setting aside time for big-picture planning ensures that you enter the new year with clarity and focus, ready to guide your team to even greater success.

By prioritising these tasks, you can wrap up 2024 with a sense of accomplishment and ensure that your team is ready to hit the ground running in 2025. Tackling compliance, planning, and engagement now will give you and your team a well-deserved break and a solid start to the new year.

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