Yes, summer Fridays are great for business, if you believe the recent survey by Ultimat Vodka. But of course, we must consider the source. For one thing, the respondents were employees, not employers. What kind of worker would vote for less time off? (Answer: A lonely one. Seventy-six percent of those who took the survey said they believed that Summer Fridays increased productivity.)
And, of course, the survey itself comes from a purveyor of adult beverages. It's possible that their parent company, Patron Spirits, might have a vested interest in convincing people to take time off and enjoy a drink. Although we can't find much wrong with the logic of this argument:
"The reason we did this study about Summer Fridays is because we discovered, not too long ago, that there seems to be such a lack of work-like balance these days," says Greg Cohen, director of corporate communications. "We suggest going to have a cocktail every now and again."
Ask a different source, and you might get a different answer: Digital media company Captivate Networks recently performed their own study, in which they surveyed 600 workers and found that productivity dips 20 percent in the summer, that project turnaround time increase by 13 percent, and that workers feel more distracted (45 percent.)
Summer Fridays, the respondents said, made things worse. Fifty-three percent said that their personal productivity declined as a result of leaving early on Fridays. Perhaps even worse, 23 percent reported increased stress levels from trying to make up work Monday through Thursday.
If that's true, it's clearly exactly the opposite of what we all want Summer Fridays to accomplish.
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(Photo Credit: slworking2/Flickr)
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