Last year, A Captivate Network study of 600 white collar North American workers in 14 metropolitan areas showed that workplace productivity is reduced by 20 percent during the summertime. The research also revealed that projects require 13 percent more time to complete, attendance declines by 19 percent, and employees are 45 percent more distracted.
Clearly, it’s an ongoing challenge for businesses to keep employees focused, energized and enthusiastic at this time of year. At Consultnetworx, we use 6 simple strategies to keep employees engaged during the hot summer season.
1) Communicate: Be very clear about your concerns. Hold a meeting and tell employees that they are being relied upon, especially at this time of year, when mid year revenue numbers and metrics are often reported and/or the competitive landscape changes. Let them know that their contributions are valued and needed, year round.
2) Show you care, personally and professionally: Acknowledge that summertime presents challenges to employees with small children and do whatever is in your power to help alleviate those issues. Also, Friday afternoon traffic headaches are a drain for those who live near a tourist destination and must battle throngs of vacationers every Friday afternoon. If it is possible to provide flex time, offer it.
3) Specify: Expectations need to be managed a bit more tightly between Memorial Day and Labor Day. While employees should never be treated like children, schedules and deadlines should be clearly relayed in terms of daily/weekly deliverables.
4) Reward: Recognize positive performance and productivity with incentives. Interdepartmental contests based on goal-reaching create a friendly competitive work environment and are proven engagement builders. Whether the prize is early Friday dismissal or an extra vacation day, rewards can benefit both employees and employers.
5) Shake things up: Find opportunities for personal and professional growth outside of the office. Participate in off-site team building, brainstorm in the park, visit a museum pertaining to your industry, enroll individuals or entire groups in work-related courses. Break the monotony and beat the summer slump.
6) Take off: A Harris Interactive study found that at the end of 2011, 57% of working Americans had unused vacation time. The average person left 11 days on the table. This should be a troubling statistic to any leader who wants to foster a creative, healthy, engaged corporate culture. I strongly encourage employees to take time off during the summer – including those in leadership roles! Whenever possible, management should arrange to provide workload coverage while employees are absent.
Finally, think about looking at the summer in a new light. Many professionals hold off on returning calls, setting up appointments and launching new initiatives during the summer because they believe that others have “checked out” physically or mentally. Why not try a little reverse psychology? Make those calls and appointments … drum up new ventures … do business in a bolder way. After all, if no one else is doing so, you, your work and your company may have a unique opportunity to stand out and be notice. Summer is a season of untapped professional opportunity—a time to shine.