Once we’re out of school and in the workforce, summer vacation is technically a thing of the past. However, summer still retains its connotation of fun and relaxation, which is why many companies slow down a little during the season. Plus, more employees than usual are out of the office for summer holidays, long weekends and family vacations.
This more relaxed summer pace can make it harder to ramp back up when fall begins. However, companies who are equipped with strategies to tackle the post-summer slump will get productivity back on track faster. Here’s how three tech companies are aiming to motivate their employees as autumn arrives.
Channel The Energy Of The Season
On an individual level, fall is the perfect time to shake off sluggishness and get re-invigorated. “Go with the collective back-to-school, back-to-tasks, and back-to-focus energy,” says Jeff Stone, CEO of Compeat. “Look at your professional goals for 2018. What have you accomplished? What needs to be readjusted? Where can you push yourself to possibly overachieve?”
Use this as a chance to review how your year has been so far professionally and pivot if needed. “Look at what is working and what is not working,” Stone continues. He also recommends reaching out to someone as an accountability partner: “Get creative and reach out cross-functionally or to co-workers if you don’t have a manager that pushes you. There are always mentors in companies. They just may not be in your direct reporting structure.”
Define And Commit To Goals As A Team
Having specific things to focus on and work towards can instill a sense of purpose into the office. “When summer ends, everyone is generally back from vacationing and we can put our heads down and build new features and products. The balance of the year is the home stretch for us,” says Aytekin Tank, CEO of JotForm.
“But it’s a long stretch from the beginning of September to the next scheduled days off,” Tank notes. “What I encourage our employees to do is to commit to project completion. Sit down as teams, decide your goals, and then write them down so they become shared goals. Then simply show up, and keep making small improvements on a daily basis while focusing on what’s ahead.”
Stone has a similar tradition with his team at Compeat. “Post summer is great time of year to reestablish focus for all employees,” he says. “In the beginning of fall, I try to have an ‘all-hands meeting’ with all team members. We focus on where we are year-to-date and look at what we have to accomplish by year end. Sometimes that calls for a readjustment of goals due to challenges outside of our control. Sometimes that can be a mini celebration of being on track. Other times, it calls for a hard push through the end of year. You can create a rallying call that we can do this and as CEO you believe in the team.”
Infuse Company Culture With Value, Recognition And Meaningful Work
Of course, employees are always more likely to be motivated and productive if they are engaged with their work and feel supported by their company.
“By focusing on thoughtful feedback and praise and assigning more meaningful work to those who deliver results, managers will find they are better able to motivate employees in the post-summer weeks and employees will find themselves happier in their roles,” says Doug Bordonaro, Chief Data Evangelist at ThoughtSpot.
“American psychologist Frederick Herzberg believed that job “satisfiers”—the opportunity for personal development, achievement, recognition and promotion—are most effective in motivating employees and promoting workplace satisfaction,” Bordonaro adds. “Managers should pay particularly close attention to these practices following the summer months when a slump inevitably ensues.”
The biggest mistake he thinks companies make with their workforce? Taking employees for granted. “It’s natural to view someone through the common lens of the workplace, but other employers will be looking at them from a different perspective. Understand the value of the employee to your organization, the value of the employee in the larger marketplace, and what motivates the employee.”
Encourage Breaks To Disconnect And Refresh
Perhaps counterintuitively, sometimes the harder employees work, the less productive they are. Employees who push themselves (or are pushed) too hard are at high risk of burnout, which can be particularly pervasive in the tech industry.
“Find time to take breaks,” says Tank. “Don’t make work a burden. Worry yourself only about the important projects, ignore the small ones and the things beyond your control. Walk and exercise more. Read books. Get sleep. Those things will make a bigger impact on the next few months than anything else.”
Source: Forbes.com
Author: Laurence Bradford