As we move into  summer and thoughts go to long warm days, vacations and a slower pace, HR planning may not be at the top of most people’s list. The summer season is however a very good time to plan for the next half of the year.. 

 All businesses have busier and slower seasons and summer is an excellent time to review and plan your strategies for the fall.  Hiring, retention planning, peer to peer appreciation, employee recognition and recruiting are year round priorities.  The typically slower summer season offers busy HR teams time to review their strategies in these areas.  

While reviewing these areas the topic of employee relations and recognition  often comes up.  Promoting employee well-being and fostering a healthy work-life balance is an area of focus. Summer is a great  time to test out new ideas to help your group  make the most of this time of year, stay connected , and feel productive.

Some teams find the summer season is an excellent opportunity to introduce flexible work hours. Allowing employees to adjust their schedules to manage  personal commitments and to also enjoy the warmer weather.  It might involve starting their workday earlier to finish in the early afternoon, or perhaps shorter hours each day  or longer hours some days, with a flexible day off during the week. Flexibility makes a significant difference in employee satisfaction and productivity. The summer is a great time to test out flexible work schedules for operational viability of a program throughout the year.

Looking at team appreciation and employee rewards and retention plans in summer help you test out ideas for the busier times.  Recent HR articles have also indicated summer is a good strategic period for HR gifting. It beats the holiday scramble by offering a lower-stress, off-season morale boost. Thoughtful mid-year gifts—show employees their well-being and life-work balance are valued all year long.  

• Mid-year is the perfect time to prevent burnout and renew momentum.
• Gifts that tie into vacations, patio season, and long weekends feel personal rather than purely transactional.
• Employee rewards  in Q3 stand out  more than the traditional holiday gifting.

 Summer Gift Ideas

• Summer picnic boxes from locally sourced artisans, or local shops in curated boxes
• Summer Experience  Reward employees with movie tickets, restaurant cards, or cards  to purchase items for activities they enjoy on  their time off. 

• Coffee and meal gift cards to start a morning event or virtual team meeting or lunch  (e.g., DoorDash, Starbucks, Uber Eats). 

Summer HR planning can substantially improve the strength  of your total HR approach  during the busier seasons. It allows for some testing of ideas and will set your company and teams up for success for the next quarter.  Enjoy your summer.