# Christmas Message to Employees: CEO, Manager and HR Examples > Write the Christmas or holiday message to your staff: examples from a CEO, a manager and a head teacher, closure dates up front, and wording for mixed teams. Source: https://hidengpt.com/write/christmas-message-to-employees # Every December I have to write the Christmas message to all our staff, and it always sounds the same. Bring three moments from the year, the office closure dates and who is covering the break. HidenGPT's Email format turns them into a message with the dates at the top, written in your voice if you add samples. Staff read a note about their year, not the template they got last December. Updated October 15, 2026 · by the HidenGPT team Try it with your own details Enter to send · Shift+Enter for a new line ## How to do it in HidenGPT - 01 Collect three moments from the year that most staff will recognize, the closure and reopening dates, and the names or teams covering the break. - 02 Pick Email under “Use it for”; this page sets Email type to Announcement / launch, Length to Medium and Tone to Friendly, so put your notes in the main box and “all staff” under To. - 03 Say in your notes whether you want “Merry Christmas”, “happy holidays” or both, and add your name under Signature in More details. - 04 Check the dates against HR's calendar, make sure nobody whose work you mention is left out of their own team's thanks, and cut lines that could appear in any company's message. - 05 Send it in the last full week before the break, so people read it at work, and pin the dates somewhere they can find them again. [Email / Newsletter](https://hidengpt.com/tools/email): Subject lines that get opened, emails and newsletters that get replies. ## Examples from a CEO, a manager and a head teacher Three senders, three lengths. Names and dates are made up, apart from the 2026 calendar. From a managing partner to 80 staff (about 125 words): “Subject: Closing dates, and thank you for 2026 Dear all, The offices close at 1 pm on Thursday 24 December and reopen on Monday 4 January. Before we stop, a few things from this year. In April we opened Leeds with four people; there are now 22 of you there. In September we changed our accounting software in the middle of the busiest quarter and did not lose one client. And Priya's team ran our first open day for school leavers, which is why three trainees start with us in January. Sam and Ola are on call for IT over the break. Thank you both. Whether you celebrate Christmas, something else, or simply a quiet week, I hope it is a good one. Helen” From a manager to a team of eight (about 60 words): “Team, I am off from Friday, so this is my last message of the year. You took on the Hartwell project with two people short and still delivered in November. That was you, not luck. Rest properly. If anything is urgent on the 29th or 30th, Mei is covering. Happy Christmas, and see you on the 4th.” From a head teacher to school staff (UK, about 55 words): “Dear colleagues, thank you for a long and full autumn term: the inspection, the new reading scheme and a nativity that went ahead in spite of the heating. The site team will be in on the 29th for the boiler. Have a restful Christmas, and I will see you on the training day in January.” ## Christmas or holidays, and the dates people will scroll for Many companies write “happy holidays” because their staff do not all celebrate Christmas, and many write “Merry Christmas” because they do. There is no rule, but a few things help. Use the words your company already uses in its calendar. In a mixed team, a line such as “whatever you celebrate” covers everyone without making a speech about it. In 2026 Hanukkah begins at sundown on Friday 4 December, well before most Christmas messages go out, so a separate greeting earlier in the month is a kind touch if you have Jewish colleagues. The dates are the part people will come back to. Put the closing time, the reopening day and who to call in an emergency in the opening lines or the subject. In 2026 Christmas Day is a Friday, so Christmas Eve is a working Thursday for many offices; say plainly whether it is a full day, a half day or a day off. Timing: send it in the week of 14 December or on Monday 21 December. A message sent on Christmas Eve afternoon is read by the people who are still at their desks, and by nobody else. ## What makes these messages sound the same every year A Christmas message gets reused more than any other company email, and staff notice. These are the usual culprits: - Openings about “this festive season” or “as the year draws to a close”. Start with the dates or with the first real moment. - “Our people are our greatest asset.” Name what people did instead. - A recap of every department. Three moments is enough. - Business targets for next year. Save them for the January message; nobody plans the budget over mince pies. - A difficult year written as if it were a great one. If there were layoffs or a hard reorganization, acknowledge it in one honest sentence. Staff who lived through it will notice if you do not. - “Wishing you and yours a joyous holiday season” as the only personal line. One test before you send: if you swapped your company's name for a competitor's, would the message still work? If so, add a name, a number or a moment. ## Not the right tool if - Announcements about pay, bonuses or redundancies. Those need HR and a separate message, not a paragraph in a greeting. - Christmas cards or emails to clients. The audience and the timing differ; see the holiday message to clients page. - The speech at the Christmas party. Words meant to be heard work differently; the holiday party speech page uses the Speech format. ## Other ways to do it A short video from the CEO Works well for large or remote companies. Send the dates in writing as well, since nobody rewatches a video to find the reopening day. Your internal comms or HR team In a large organization they may write the company-wide message; a manager can then add two personal lines for their own team. Last year's message, rewritten Keep the structure if it worked, replace every moment and number. Staff remember last year's lines. ChatGPT or another chatbot Quick, but it reaches for “festive season” openings and greetings that fit any company. Add your own moments. ## Questions ### What should a Christmas message to employees say? The closing and reopening dates, thanks for two or three specific things people did this year, who is covering the break, and a warm wish that fits everyone. About 100 to 200 words for a company-wide message. ### Should I say Merry Christmas or happy holidays to staff? Use the wording your company already uses, and in a mixed team add a line that includes everyone, such as “whatever you celebrate”. Both are common; what matters more is that the message is about your people. ### When should the Christmas message go out? In the last full working week before the break, while people are still at work. In 2026 that means the week of 14 December or Monday 21 December. ### What do I write after a hard year? Say it was hard in one honest sentence, thank people for what they carried, and keep the tone calm rather than celebratory. Do not promise next year will be better unless you know why it will be. ### Is it OK to write the staff Christmas message with AI? Yes, if the moments and names are real. HidenGPT drafts from what you give it and marks anything missing with a placeholder; you check every date and name and send the message as yours. Do not paste anything confidential your company's policy keeps out of AI tools. ### How is a Christmas message to staff different in the UK? In the UK it is often called a Christmas message to staff, and schools send one from the head teacher at the end of the autumn term. Mention the reopening date or the first training day, and keep it short. ## Related - [I'm the boss, and I have to say something at our company Christmas party.](https://hidengpt.com/write/holiday-party-speech) - [I have a stack of Christmas cards for people at work and no idea what to write in each one.](https://hidengpt.com/write/christmas-card-messages-for-coworkers) - [I want to send my team a Thanksgiving message that doesn't sound like a greeting card.](https://hidengpt.com/write/thanksgiving-message-to-employees) - [My colleague is leaving for another job on Friday, and I'm saying a few words at the send-off.](https://hidengpt.com/write/farewell-speech-for-colleague) - [Does my writing sound like AI?](https://hidengpt.com/tools/ai-cliche-checker) - [Essays, homework and everyday writing that sounds like you](https://hidengpt.com/write) [Prefer HidenGPT on Google](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=hidengpt.com)