Throughout the hot and humid summer months, it can be a challenge to sustain the heightened levels of employee engagement your organization needs to keep everything firing on all cylinders. One study shows that workplace productivity drops as much as 20 percent during the summer months, at-work attendance decreases by 19 percent, projects take 13 percent more time to complete, and workers are 45 percent more distracted. Beyond encouraging employees to take an all-important, recharging vacation (see my previous blog post titled The Importance of Vacation), what can a business leader do to ensure that their employees are as productive in the summertime as they are the rest of the year?
Happy and motivated employees will serve your customers and company needs with energy, drive, and determination. While remuneration plays an important role in the engagement of staff, it is not everything. Based on in-depth interviews performed by Professor William Kahn, these three core elements are key to making an employee a sense of belonging and engagement in the workplace:
- Feel that their work was meaningful and made a difference
- Feel valued, trusted and respected
- Feel secure and self-confident
When an employee becomes more engaged and feels as if they are a part of the workplace community, they will be more productive. Focusing on the emotional, physical, and mental needs of employees can really pay dividends. In this post, we outline a few key tips to help with employee engagement in your organization.
Institution of “Summer Hours”
Summer is the perfect time to allow your employees a bit of flexibility. Popular examples of “Summer Hours” include flextime, the option to telecommute, a compressed workweek, or Summer Fridays (i.e. working in the morning with the afternoon off). A Gartner study off 200 employers shows that, in 2017, 42 percent of respondents offered some form of flexible summer hours (this is up from 21 percent in 2015.)
Enjoy the Great Outdoors
When the temperatures soar, letting your team enjoy the great outdoors on occasion is a great way to lift spirits. A short break taken outside in the fresh air, away from computers, can truly invigorate and energize an individual. Ice cream socials and picnic lunches hosted by the company are two easy and relatively cost-effective ways to do this. Company sponsored running or walking groups can all help to stimulate the mind and boost innovation and creativity within an organization.
A Chance to Socialize
Employees like to feel connected with the company they work for and value the relationships they build with co-workers. Several great ways to help strengthen the emotional connection between employees and the workplace include family open houses, customer meet and greets, and corporate picnics.
Simply by being aware of the things that matter to employees, a business leader can take the right steps to ensure that all members of the organization are motivated, happy, committed, and productive. If you have questions about maintaining employee productivity over the summer months (and beyond), please don’t hesitate to contact me.
