Fridays are, understandably, the least productive days of the work week, at least according to a survey done by Accountemps. People’s minds are often elsewhere, thinking about their plans for the weekend or relishing the prospect of time off, rather than focusing on the work still at hand. It’s a natural human tendency; who doesn’t fall victim to “the Fridays” at least once in a while?
Much of trying to fix that falls on the shoulders of the human resources departments. In an article for Inc. magazine, Jeremy Goldman outlines some advice on how to alleviate unproductive Fridays.
First, says Goldman, encourage your employees to start their day earlier than they might normally on Fridays. As contrary to common sense as that may seem, he notes that it could allow workers to end their work days early while still clocking in the same amount of time as they would Monday through Thursday.
Goldman goes on to say that having workers allot time on Friday to work on a special project they might have been putting off to the side is another way to spur productivity. “Fridays are often odd in that you’re rushing around to end the week on the right foot, and yet nothing of major substance happens,” and doing this might be a way to make your day more substantive.
Lastly is something that may seem obvious, but is something often overlooked. You must schedule your workweek. Doing so can make sure each hour — including those on Friday — is used to further some company goal rather than spent twiddling one’s thumbs.
Permanently incorporating these habits into a workforce takes time, time that many HR departments don’t have because of more bureaucratic duties that need to be addressed. HR software systems can minimize the workload for HR executives so they can center their attention on what’s really important. Let HR Software Solutions implement and manage that system for you.