Motivating employees in the Summer

The sun’s out, but instead of working like a hit of Vitamin D to the bodies of your team and inspiring them to make sales, create and inspire, you feel like you’re the supply teacher in charge of 30 thirteen-year-olds wanting to be outside on the grass doing backflips. 6pm comes and the car park is deserted. As a manager, it’s hard to feel like you’ve got any semblance of control left when the sun has got his hat on.

The truth is, a real professional doesn’t fight it and insist that employees enjoy their time indoors.  The time when you let your team roam free, take a longer lunch hour or sit outside for a brain-storming session will all go down in legend. The British Summer is a good 4 days long, so why not take a look at how you can us ethe sunny weather to your advantage?

Here are some great reasons to take that meeting outside, allow an earlier check out time or to even move things to the park.

Now could be a great time to look at some evening or lunchtime fitness classes, or even at the idea of flexy working for a longer lunch break. Don’t forget that you can even use the sun to your advantage – with longer lunches for the morning champions, or an early checkout time for the people who have smashed their targets. When the sun’s out, go for items that encourage speed, cleansing or working to target.

Need some more proof?

1. Sunlight has preventative benefits

According to healthline ‘Although excess sunlight can contribute to skin cancers, a moderate amount of sunlight has cancer preventive benefits. Those who live in areas with fewer daylight hours are more likely to have a number of cancers than those who live where there’s more sun during the day, according to a study from Environmental Health Perspectives. These cancers include:

• colon cancer
• Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• ovarian cancer
• pancreatic cancer
• prostate cancer’

2.  Improved Mood

According to Mercola, ‘both SAD and the winter blues are directly related to a lack of sunlight.
Serotonin (a chemical that helps regulate your mood) levels are low in people with depression and, at least one study has found, also in healthy people during the winter.
Since serotonin levels rise in your brain on days with a lot of sunlight, bright light may boost your mood by activating neurons in your brain that contain serotonin, leading to increased levels of the chemical in your brain, researchers say.
Serotonin neuron activity also tends to be higher on brighter days than darker days, even within the same season. This suggests that levels of serotonin in your brain are directly related to how much sunlight is available on any particular day.’ In other words, a meeting in the sunshine is going to increase your team’s mood.

3.Sunlight gives improved vitamin D levels

In a study run by professor Kay-Tee Khaw from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge into Vitamin D deficiency, it was revealed that ‘a modest increase in vitamin D could be achieved by….20 minutes a day of sunlight in summer to ensure that we have sufficient levels to see us through the winter and must be careful as we know that over-exposure to sunlight – particularly if we burn – raises skin cancer risk.’

So – what are the options for savvy workplaces?

1. The outdoor meeting
2. The walking meeting
3. The brainstorm
4. The treasure hunt
5. The lunchtime game
6. The after work fitness challenge
7. The lunchtime run
8. Changed working hours – leave earlier, or an extended lunch break
9. A bench – placed away from smoking areas and designed for seated sun breaks

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