Friday is here, the sun is shining, and your employees’ eyes are glued to the window and clock itching for the weekend. To avoid these unproductive habits, many employers have adapted to allowing Summer Friday hours as an additional, inexpensive employee perk. As a manager, you may be wondering why this would be beneficial for your organization.
Think of it this way: Summer Fridays = Truly Refreshed, Productive Mondays.
What are Summer Fridays?
Summer Fridays are additional time off during the summer months (Memorial Day – Labor Day), in addition to regular sick, vacation, and personal time. For hourly employees, many companies expect the employee to make up the hours they will be missing on Friday, by working extra hours during the week. For salaried employees, the thought is that they will put in the time necessary to get their work done each week. The most common schedules for Summer Fridays include:
- Leaving Friday at noon.
- Leaving Friday afternoon around 2-3pm.
- Having every other Friday off.
- Working remotely for part of, or the whole day on Friday.
Benefits?
The idea that more hours worked = more productive results is dead. Productivity drops drastically when employees are overworked. Offering summer hours will give employees more time to recover from work-related stress and help them manage their work-life balance. Giving your staff more time to relax will ensure that the hours they are at the office are spent in a more efficient manner.
Not convinced? Test it out for just one summer, measuring team productivity throughout that time period. You may be surprised what this simple perk can bring not only to your employees, but to the business overall.
It’s no secret that workers switch their brain to weekend mode come Friday, especially in the summer. Why waste those unproductive hours when you can help your staff be fully charged and ready to go the following week? When your employees are happy, they want to work! Take the time to consider implementing Summer Fridays into your company policy.