Summer is typically a time when the weather is nice and people want to get outside and enjoy it while they can. For this reason, companies may offer summer hours to employees to allow them to take advantage of the benefits of the season.
It is commonly known that flexible hours in and of themselves can be valuable to employees. Summer hours may be even more flexible for some organizations. In order to maximize the enjoyment of this time but still ensure that work is completed in a productive fashion, HR will have to help set up a workable schedule that benefits the company as well as the employees.
As an article from Inc. points out, one way to give employees the benefit of summer hours is to have some work days be shorter than others. It also recommends that companies may want to offer an additional day off during the week. However, it is important to note that the success of this type of schedule change will depend on the ability of the company to keep up with its usual amount of work. If the schedule is found to be hindering productivity, it may not be workable.
Allowing employees to work from home from time to time is another way to give them the benefit of being able to take advantage of summer hours. As such, productivity will still be a consideration in determining whether this type of schedule is effective.
After summer comes to a close it might be time to evaluate the program and go back to a normal schedule. Through any schedule change it’s important to ensure productivity is maintained at an optimal level. HR software solutions can help provide an efficient system to keep track of all your company’s HR details, including scheduling and productivity.