It might not look like it from the office window (where has the sun gone?) but Summer has now officially started. That means the long days are here and everyone’s mood has lifted somewhat. And summer is the best time to treat your staff! After all, it’s hard to be depressed when the sun is shining and the smell of BBQ is in the air.
Why Is Summer The Perfect Time To Treat Your Staff?
If your business is based in an office or a warehouse, for example, summer time in the workplace can sometimes feel like a party that you haven’t been invited to. All over your social media feed you see images of friends playing out in the park, enjoying the great British summer time, whilst you’re stuck tied to your desk.
Particularly for those who work in environments with little natural day light, or who work shifts and are often on nights, the summer can seem to be something that is happening elsewhere, to other people.
Yet, there are very good reasons for the fact that summer makes people happier and, as a good employer, you want to employ happy people. After all, if your employees are happy, then their happiness is infectious, your workplace is a better place to be and your company is more productive overall.
So, if you want to make sure your team are happy and healthy and making the most of the summer months, it is your job, as a responsible employer, to help foster the summer season in your workplace. Here are a few simple ideas that could help you bring the summer to work.
1. Organise A Summer BBQ To Treat Your Staff
OK, this doesn’t have to be as daunting as it first sounds, but it is a sure-fire way of treating your staff and bringing the summer fun to work. Because who doesn’t love a BBQ?!
How you execute this can be entirely up to you; you can either do it at the weekend or you could do it in work time. There are pros and cons to both. You just need to work out which one works best for your workplace (for example, you would need to weigh up whether your staff would want to spend time at a work thing over the weekend v whether the business can afford for everyone to down tools for a Friday afternoon).
Next, you work out whether the event will be just for staff or whether partners, kids and other extended family should come too.
Again, this will depend on your workplace; it’s always nice to let your employees involve their families in their work life but, if the logistics or the insurance is just too much to contemplate, just hold the event for existing staff.
Finally, you just need to organise the food and drinks. It’s always best to nominate a staff member to take control of this element, especially if you’re doing it as a Jacob’s Join (you don’t want to end up with 6,000 beef burgers but no buns or cheese slices!).
Also remember that you’ll need to cater for everyone’s dietary requirements; you won’t earn brownie points if the vegans and coeliacs have nothing to eat! Of course, if you don’t want the headache, you can just get outside caterers in and let everyone enjoy the day.
TIP: If you nominate a charity and carry out fundraising activities at your summer BBQ too, you can ensure your staff have a good time AND your company gives back to the local community – it’s win win!
2. Have A Dress Down Day
OK, this doesn’t sound like the most exciting proposition, especially if your company already has a Dress Down Day as a regular thing, but there are ways of making it more fun and summery.
For one thing, you could have a fancy dress theme for your days, such as ‘Hawaii Hula’ (just be careful you don’t go a bit sexist though!) or ‘Hipster Surfer’? After all, everyone loves to dress up and it brings a fun and informal atmosphere to the office, so it’s a great to get folk to relax a little and feel like they’re part of summer.
One thing to bear in mind, however; you need to remember that not everyone enjoys dressing up. So, make sure it’s not compulsorily and also pick a theme that’s not so out there that your staff will have to spend a fortune on fancy dress costumes. The idea is just to let people off having to wear a suit when the weather is roasting outside, not to humiliate and bankrupt your team.
If you want to make your day even more fun, you could incorporate additional competitions, such as a prize for the most outlandish Hawaiian shirt, and accessorise your day with extra treats, such as mocktails from coconut shells and flags for adorning desks and pinboards.
If you can, get an ice-cream van to visit your place of work too, or bring your own if that’s not possible. Trust us, there is nothing that people like more than an ice cream on a hot day, no matter what age they are. You’ll be amazed how quickly the office will empty as everyone runs for the ice cream van!
TIP: Summer Dress Down Days are a great opportunity to promote your company as a fun and friendly place to work, so make sure you take plenty of photos for your website and social media feeds – it’ll pay off!
3. Take It Outdoors
One of the worst things about summer – especially if the sun is shining – is being stuck indoors all day. Think about it; in winter, most of us never see our houses in daylight, so in summer we want to spend as much time outside as we possibly can.
However, again, if your staff work all day in an airless office or work night shifts in a warehouse, then seeing the summer is something that rarely happens. Because, thanks to our Great British Summer, you can guarantee it’ll be lovely and warm and sunny all week, then raining cats and dogs all weekend!
That’s why, if you can, it’s a good idea to let your staff out of the office from a day or so if the sun is shining. Obviously, again, how you make this work will depend entirely on your business; if your team work on laptops then it’ll be easy to de-camp the office to a nearby park, or even a local beer garden.
On the other hand, if your work takes place in a factory, then it’s obviously not going to be practical to allow your employees to work outside for the day, but in that case, why not treat your team to a pub lunch instead? Or, even, see point one above and let your staff have an afternoon off for an outdoor picnic – trust us, an afternoon in the sun will make everyone happy.
Getting out of the office and into the sun is a great way to treat your staff; they’ll really appreciate it!
Contact Wellspace To Help Keep Your Staff Happy
Whatever you choose to do this summer, there are a myriad of ways you can treat your staff and ensure they remain happy, healthy and productive. If you’d like to talk to one of our wellness experts about how Wellspace can help you to achieve this, then please contact us today.
