Article provided by Jamie Mackenzie, Director at Sodexo Engage
In the summertime, everyone seems to be in a more positive mood – winter coats are a thing of the past (fingers crossed!), people are off enjoying their holidays, and the company’s summer party is fast approaching.
So, it’s a great opportunity to bolster this enthusiasm with some seasonal incentives and rewards.
Go outside to play
Summer incentives can be a great way to give staff an extra spring in their step, especially as the chance to do things outdoors creates an opportunity for a lot of fun activities. For example, companies can organise a garden party for teams that hit their targets or plan an event exclusively for top performers to breed a little healthy competition.
The chance to relax outside, unwind with their colleagues and feel rewarded for their hard work is an enticing incentive for all employees. And it doesn’t have to be a big party either; small things like treating people to some free ice cream on a hot day or introducing a summer casual dress code for the warmer months could also see a rise in staff motivation and engagement.
In the summertime
Flexible working is another good way to motivate staff in the summertime – especially those with children – as it can make it much easier for employees to organise their personal lives.
PepsiCo, for example, offers its employees something known as ‘summer hours’. If employees work an extra hour each day from Monday to Thursday, they can use the four hours earned to take off on Friday afternoon. This model might not work for every business, but it can be an easy benefit to introduce for some.
And it’s not just staff who will appreciate it – the organisation will see the benefits of a flexible workforce too. Vodafone surveyed 8,000 global employers and workers and found an amazing 83% reported that productivity was boosted by using flexible hours.
Avoiding the heated commute
Another option with flexible working is to let employees work remotely and from their own home, which can also help parents massively over the summer holidays. Indeed, many organisations have understood the value of working from home with as many as 1.52 million employees now reported to be doing this practice.
While some companies may worry that staff will be less productive when working from home, in reality it’s actually quite the opposite. If the business implements the right training practices and establishes the most effective ways to work from home without getting distracted, staff will have the best tools to remain productive. Furthermore, staff will often be even more eager to showcase their work and be vocal when not in the office to ensure that their presence is felt.
Ultimately, summer is a great time to roll out benefits and ways of working that suit the season, and flexible or remote working can be especially advantageous during the summer period to keep employees engaged and motivated. Combined with increased one-off activities like parties and other events, incentives like these will make the summer of 2019 one to remember.
