Summer Fridays have become a tradition for many businesses. They have become a nice perk to offer employees especially when tight budgets restrict bonuses and larger incentives.ย
The promise of Summer Fridays is that team members will use them to recharge and come back to work Monday morning energized and ready to be even more productive. With kids out of school and temps favorable for an afternoon dip in the pool, people love the unscheduled time to focus on whatโs important to them. This is especially true this year given the levels of uncertainty employees are forced to face both at work and in the world overall.ย
While Summer Fridays cut into the time available for work, they are positioned as a wonderful perk that increases productivity and builds engagement.ย
Summer Fridays typically function like bonuses โ they are valued in the moment and have an impact โ but only for a short period of time.ย
If Summer Fridays donโt lead to the lasting impact you need to grow results, what else should you consider?ย
Based on the research conducted for The Buy-In Advantage, todayโs workers are looking for three non-financial experiences in exchange for their buy-in:
- Being seen as human beings instead of human doings. This means the organization recognizes that they have unique experiences and have much more potential than their title or direct tasks.ย
- Having their voice heard. Team members are looking to share their experiences. Often decisions that affect them are made higher in the organization without even considering the ideas the people doing the work might contribute.ย
- Connecting their day-to-day work to a larger purpose. After the pandemic, the purpose of work became more important. Team members who understand and identify with the company’s purpose have greater buy-in and get more done.ย
Microhabits leaders can use to make summer fridays support employee engagement
Recognizing these needs, employers have a chance to use three microhabits to amplify theย Summer Fridays programs already in place. (Even if you donโt have a Summer Fridays program, you can use these habits to increase productivity and buy-in.)
Each of these microhabits has an impact without requiring a financial investment. The most impactful microhabits are simple, easy to remember and donโt take a lot of effort.ย
This summer lean into these simple steps to maximize the impact of the long weekends:
1. On Summer Mondays, begin meetings with a question to connect as human beings.ย
A typical question might be โwhat are you celebrating most about your Summer Friday this past week?โย
Allow each person to answer and listen for the insights they provide about what is important to them. Note their answers so that you are able to follow up with them later about whatโs really important to them, which is more than just recapping what they did on Friday.ย
Being seen as a human being will make people much more willing to put their full selves into accomplishing what you really want done.ย
2. When you announce Summer Fridays, tie them to values.
At our company, for example, an important value is โrecognizing whole humans.โ The thought behind this value is to recognize that work is just one part of life and being curious and appreciating the other parts of someone’s life lets them know they are truly valued as more than a cog in a machine.ย
As a company committed to your values, you can also encourage your team to consider their personal values and lean into those during those Summer Fridays.ย
3. Ask your team to identify other ways the company can live into the value Summer Fridays supports that donโt involve time off and can be appreciated year round.ย
Tap into the experience and ideas of every team member by asking them a question at least a day in advance of a discussion, so they can consider it. The question might be โwhat are things we could start, stop, or double down on to live into our value of X?โ As people share, write up the different answers without evaluating them. You can then recognize themes without needing to judge the answers!ย
With teams newer to this kind of open sharing, we find people can get hyper focused on one idea. To help unlock deeper thinking, you can ask the bonus question, โWhat would that allow you to do, be or have?โย
For example, if someone were to suggest, year round Fridays off, capture the idea and also ask the bonus question. They might answer, flexibility, more time for travel, time for appointments. You can then encourage other ideas that could provide those same benefits.ย
These three micro-habits may sound small, but they can pay big dividends especially for a team working in stressful environments. When people are seen as unique individuals and that their voice counts they are much more likely to put in extra effort. They can shift from doing only what they are asked to finding ways to go above and beyond taking ownership and proactively finding ways to drive better results.
If you are wondering how proactive and engaged your team is, consider: how many times in the last week has a team member come forward with an idea to do something differently, stop doing something or do something new? If itโs not happening regularly, perhaps it is time to try these three micro-habits out and get ready for more engaged team members who apply even more to getting work done.
