The fan has been brought out of the cupboard, holiday calendars are filling up and the office suddenly feels a little quieter. Summer has arrived.
We have spoken previously about how the warmer months can impact your building, but what about the wider effects on your business? Does productivity rise or fall? Are employees happier? Do businesses buy less? Or do they simply buy differently?
The answer, as with most things, is not straightforward. Summer changes the way people work, how leaders make decisions and how businesses operate. Let’s explore some of the evidence.
There are conflicting studies on business productivity during the summer months.
On one hand, attendance tends to fall as employees take annual leave. Research from Remit Consulting found that office occupancy in the UK fell to as low as 30.7% during August. Fewer people in the workplace can naturally mean lower overall output and slower project delivery.
However, productivity is not simply about the number of people at work. It is also about how effectively they perform while they are there.
A well-known study from the University of Oxford found that happier employees were 13% more productive than their less happy colleagues. They completed more work, performed better and were more engaged in their roles. The research also highlighted links between mood and business productivity, suggesting that factors which improve wellbeing can have a meaningful impact on performance.
So while total output may dip as people take holidays, there is evidence to suggest that the employees who remain are often happier, more engaged and capable of getting more done.
Taking time away from work can reduce business productivity in the short term, but it plays an important role in maintaining morale and preventing burnout.
Research from BreatheHR found that only 35% of UK employees use all of their annual leave entitlement. The most common reasons given were having too much work to do and not having enough colleagues available to cover their responsibilities.
This is understandable, but it may also be counterproductive.
Time away from work gives people the opportunity to recharge, spend time with family and return feeling refreshed. The benefits extend beyond the individual too. Teams with well-rested employees are often more engaged, collaborative and resilient, which can have a positive impact on business productivity.
There is only so much good weather can do for someone’s wellbeing. Creating a culture where employees feel comfortable taking their annual leave is just as important.
And does summer itself help with morale?
The evidence suggests it does.
A large UK study published by BMJ Mental Health, involving more than 49,000 adults, found that people generally report higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction during the summer months, while symptoms of anxiety and depression are lower.
That certainly aligns with my own experience. I love the longer evenings, having the sun ready for my morning walk and not needing to wrap up in multiple layers before stepping outside.
Of course, experiences vary. Some people struggle with the heat, poor sleep or changes to routine, and there is evidence that high temperatures can negatively affect mood for some individuals. But overall, the research suggests summer has a positive impact on wellbeing for most people.
Summer can also influence how businesses buy.
With people taking annual leave, key decision-makers are sometimes unavailable, meetings take longer to arrange and projects can slow as organisations wait for approvals or additional information.
For many teams, particularly operational departments, summer can actually feel busier. Colleagues cover for one another, workloads are redistributed and maintaining business as usual becomes the priority.
However, for senior leaders and business owners, summer can also provide an opportunity to step back and think more strategically.
A number of business and marketing studies suggest that while buying cycles may slow, quieter periods are often used to review long-term plans, reassess priorities and consider investments for the future.
In many ways, this makes sense.
When the pace of day-to-day business eases slightly, there is more time to ask important questions:
Are we operating efficiently?
Are we controlling our costs?
Are our buildings fit for the future?
What changes do we need to make before the busy period returns?
Summer is therefore not necessarily a period of less spending. It is often a period of different spending, where organisations shift their focus from immediate priorities to longer-term improvements.
Perhaps the biggest impact of summer isn’t on people at all.
It’s on the gap that emerges between how people use buildings and how those buildings operate.
Occupancy changes. Schedules become more flexible. Teams take well-earned breaks.
Yet many buildings continue to run exactly as they do in November.
Lighting remains on for longer than necessary. Heating and cooling schedules remain unchanged. Empty meeting rooms are ventilated and conditioned as though they are full.
Businesses are generally very good at adapting workloads and staffing levels during summer. Surprisingly, many are less effective at adapting the buildings those people work in.
Summer doesn’t stop businesses progressing.
It changes how people work, how leaders make decisions and how buildings are used. It creates opportunities for organisations to improve business productivity through better planning, wellbeing and operational awareness.It changes how people work, how leaders make decisions and how buildings are used.
Yes, there may be short-term impacts on output or delays to purchasing decisions. But there are also significant benefits: happier employees, improved morale, opportunities for strategic thinking and the chance to step back and assess what is really important.
The organisations that get the most from summer are rarely those that fight these changes.
They are the ones that adapt to them.
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