Summer is almost here. And what better way to celebrate than by taking in the nice weather with your team? Startup founders from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) share how they plan to help their team enjoy the next few months:
Q. What is one way you plan to help your team enjoy some downtime over the summer, outside of usual perks?
Their best answers are below:
1. Flexible fridays
Everyone works an extra hour per day, Monday through Thursday so that we can all leave the office at 12 p.m. on Fridays. Our team loves it. It allows everyone to start their weekend earlier, and provides our team with a lot more flexibility. It's a small thing, but it's the type of perk that encourages people to appreciate their job and understand that we care about them.
2. Personality tests
I encourage my employees to take some emotional intelligence and IQ tests. I believe a huge portion of someone's success is due to his social interactions. Identifying strengths and weaknesses is the first step to working on them.
3. Time off together
We close our office for the week of July 4th. We give a lot of paid time off and also close our office for three weeks a year. Taking time off together means real vacation, without inboxes filling up or worrying that colleagues are waiting on you. As the owner, I love it too! - Jennifer Benz, Benz Communications
4. Minor league baseball
My goal is to take my team to several minor league baseball games this summer. Relatively inexpensive tickets allow our entire team to sit together close to the field and enjoy the outdoors, the great weather, and a good ball game.
- Bobby Grajewski, Edison Nation Medical
5. Smoothie Tuesdays
Some offices have pizza Fridays or bagel Thursdays, but we’re instituting smoothie Tuesdays! Smoothies are a little less filled with carbohydrates and a lot more refreshing, so it’s a great option on a hot summer weekday.
- Derek Flanzraich, Greatist
6. Outdoor fitness activities
We encourage our employees to go outside and incorporate fitness into their daily routine. We believe this helps stimulate the brain, energizes the body, and allows our employees to decompress during the workday. Our employees appreciate that we hold meetings outside during the summer months for a nice change of scenery. - Sean Marszalek, SDC Nutrition, Inc.
7. Bonding events
My team will be heading out to have a beach work day this summer followed by a special team bonding evening. We have been talking about it since December and having that team bonding experience is important. Since we are based in New York, it is crucial to enjoy the weather while we can.
8. Overseas travel
In addition to our annual box party at the Pirates game, we're going to send some employees to our overseas offices to get a feel for how they work. They'll get to explore other countries and do more observing than actual work. I think that's a pretty strong summer perk.
9. Flexible hours
We believe a happy employee is a productive employee. With this in mind, we are implementing a flexible hours program that allows employees to choose their own hours as long as they are getting their work done. Come in at noon and work until 8 p.m. If you'd like to go to the beach in the afternoon, that’s fine too.
