With a relaxed mind, his deepest insight was ignited. This principle – that a mind must have rest to do its best work – drives the movement for Summer Fridays.
Through Summer Fridays programmes, companies offer employees early dismissal through the summer months. This reprieve allows employees to come back to the workplace as a better, more revitalised worker.
Read more: Does your workplace need the right to disconnect?
The modern workplace comes with expectations to operate at peak levels constantly. But when employees aren’t given time to unplug, they feel drained and have less creativity.
Leadership consultancy The Energy Project studied how high-performing athletes achieve ultra-athleticism and applied the findings to the business world. What they discovered was that the human brain is not like a computer. It cannot work at maximum efficiency all day and then power down. Instead, it operates like a wave, requiring time to relax to come back to peak performance.
Summer Fridays provide this crucial time for relaxing and revitalising the brain.
Simple steps to implementing Summer Fridays
HR is often responsible for implementing and selling new employee benefits. I have learned that the following steps can help make Summer Fridays understood, accepted, and valued.
- Sell it thoughtfully – There will always be people who don’t like an idea. The setup will influence how it’s received, and HR can partner with internal communications teams to develop language to promote the offering based on business and industry culture.
- Position it carefully – Summer Fridays are not a privilege but an employee benefit. Perspective is everything. When initiating Summer Fridays, shift the team's perspective from “We need 40 hours to be effective,” to “We have 32 hours. How do we need to focus out time?” Take time to reinforce key initiatives and tout priorities. When HR shows how the Summer Fridays benefit supports larger company goals, it will be accepted as such.
- Understand your industry – The specific needs of your industry must be prioritised. The programme should flex to those needs.
- Address concerns upfront – The brain has an automatic negative bias, but the reality is that spending more time worrying about having less time is counterproductive. People will adjust by trimming waste out of their days. Acknowledging this can shift perspective from fear of losing employee time to appreciation of what comes when employees have time to renew themselves.
Read more: Early Friday finishes are employees' most desired perk
Prioritise human respect over tradition
Through coaching for over two decades, one truth has remained consistent: people love benefits that support balance. This extra time off respects employees as human beings, validates their capabilities, endears them to the company, and provides autonomy. Further, I’ve seen time after time how encouraging balance in a person’s life prompts renewed innovation and energy for the work.
As a species, we are producing more than ever, but is it honestly our best work? More isn’t necessarily better. Summer Fridays are one way to recalibrate and reorient our economy to prioritise important work over volume of work.
Flame Schoeder owns the Coach Flame coaching organisation
