It may be easier to allow staff to do some remote working in order to both get the job doneWhen the weather starts warming up it’s easy for staff to lose concentration at work or feel overloaded. Not just because of the feeling of being uncomfortable, but also because of multiple annual leave bookings, childcare issues and a general sense of impending summer fun. As a result of all these factors, warmer, sunnier weather can seriously affect productivity. We take a look at how to prepare for this and improve your summertime workplace productivity.
Encourage staff to book leave early
Encourage staff not only to book annual leave early but also to be aware of other’s needs. Those with school-aged children will obviously need to book leave in the six week holidays and whilst everyone would love to have the whole of August off, the reality is that work productivity will stay more consistent if holidays can be spread from May to September (or even better throughout the year). Consider holding a meeting with staff in Spring to discuss the periods everyone wants off to try and share it around.
Embrace remote working
In order to get to that summer wedding on the other side of the country or to get that cheaper deal on a holiday, it may be easier to allow staff to do some remote working in order to both get the job done and make their plans possible. Get them set up on systems such as Open Access VPN so that they can work anywhere in the world.
Childcare plans
Childcare issues can seriously impact on work productivity during summer, but try not to punish staff for this, they are at the mercy of the school term dates as much as you are. Encourage staff to organise summer childcare as early as possible and consider incentives for this such as a tax free childcare voucher scheme. You could even offer to match what they put in, or even top it up by 10% or 20% so that when summer comes they have accrued enough vouchers to cover summer holiday childcare.
Air-conditioning maintenance
To ensure staff are comfortable throughout the summer, make sure you have your air conditioning system serviced in spring. This will prevent any sudden breakdowns in the system. A hot office is not the place you’ll find good productivity.
As you can see, it’s easy for the warm weather to have a seriously negative impact on the levels of productivity at your workplace, but being prepared, having good communication and offering incentives for both childcare and remote working can make the summer-time go more smoothly and improve the productivity of the season.
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