Dayforce, a global human capital management (HCM) leader that makes work life better, has released a survey of full-time Australian employees that revealed workers don’t feel quite as productive during the warmer months – but they’re still continuing to check emails or notifications while away on holiday.
The poll, conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Dayforce, found that 45% of employees say they are less productive during the summer, and four in ten (39%) say they tend to slack off when their boss is on summer holiday. However, more than six in ten employees still don’t unplug from work completely while on summer holiday.
To perhaps beat summer slacking and keep employees engaged during the warmer months, six in ten employees (60%) say their employer has some form of summer flexibility, with the most popular options being flexible work hours/schedules (35%), increased work from home options (26%) and seasonal work from anywhere options (21%).
Eighty-six percent of employees with summer flex policies agree they help to reduce burnout, but half of those whose employers offer these benefits (49%) say they can’t always take advantage of them.
A significant majority of employees who have summer flex policies (81%) feel there are negative aspects, including finding it harder to get work done when co-workers are less available (34%), frustration from being too busy to take advantage of summer flex policies (28%) and finding it disruptive to routines (26%).