Half-day Fridays a morale booster

Published 5:47 pm Thursday, July 8, 2010

Employees of many small businesses will be indulging in a favorite summertime perk: They’ll get to go home early on Fridays.

Despite the uncertain economy, many small-business owners continue to allow their staffers to enjoy that extra time off at the end of the week. But Summer Fridays, as they’re often called, have undergone some changes as a result of the recession. Some companies that used to shut down completely now have some workers in the office to help take care of customers or clients. That often means staffers take turns taking Friday afternoon off.

Other companies now give employees what amounts to flex time on Fridays, letting each staffer decide how to use their time off.

Smart business practice

Karyn Ravin of New York-based Maletzky Media says giving employees a few hours off is “being a smart business owner. You have to do everything you can to get people who will come to work for a small company.” Summer Fridays have been common in the public relations industry for decades, partly because there so much competition for workers.

Steve Cody of Peppercorn Strategic Communications, which has offices in New York, San Francisco and London, calls Summer Fridays a morale builder that help the company hold on to its staffers.

“Our assets go up and down the elevator every day,” Cody said. “They’re as important as our clients.”

Peppercorn started Summer Fridays at the suggestion of employees, Cody said. The staff is divided into A and B teams, and workers alternate taking a half-day off.

A recession-resistant perk

While PR companies were bitten hard by the recession, many owners decided against eliminating the perk at many companies even when they were having to get by with fewer staff members.

At Welz and Weisel Communications, managers “did have a discussion around whether or not we should change the time off or limit it, and we determined that just wasn’t the best path to take,” said the firm’s Jayna Kliner.

Welz and Weisel employees can leave at 3 p.m. as long as they’ve finished their work. And staffers all have smart phones and access to e-mail, so clients can reach them.

Evolving Summer Friday practices

Some companies have changed their Summer Fridays practices in recent years. In some cases, the recession was the reason. Other companies have responded to employee requests for a more flexible approach to time off.

There’s a new policy at Lippe Taylor, a New York PR firm. Instead of closing early every Friday, the company is giving employees one Friday off each month during the summer. They get to choose when they take it.

“What used to work with an older generation of workers and a different marketplace isn’t working anymore,” said president Jim Joseph. He said younger workers would rather be able to take a three-day weekend than work shorter days.

Moreover, after the recession, “we found that we couldn’t close the office anytime and go completely dark,” he added.

Some owners have had to experiment with different departure times. Achille found through trial and error that 3 p.m. works the best.

She used to have a 1 p.m. departure time. But, she said, “what happens is, the whole day is spent watching the clock.” And when employees took lunch at noon, well, there went the day.

Joyce Rosenberg writes about small business issues for the Associated Press.