As the temperature drops, businesses often struggle to adapt to the challenges that winter brings. There are countless ways you can prepare your business for winter, such as providing warm PPE, incorporating hybrid working, and saving a winter budget for extra heating costs.
If you have started to prepare your business for winter, this will be important because it will:
- Boost Moral
- Reduce Sickness Days
- Minimize Workplace Injuries
- Improve Business Reputation
- Allow for Family Time
Boost Morale
Staff members will feel more comfortable and will produce higher quality work when they feel warm. Feeling cold is a distraction and will reduce productivity levels, as their focus shifts to trying to find warmth. Not only this, the daily commute will often be in darkness, at the start and end of the day. The decrease of daylight hours may lead employees to feel disengaged and more stressed at work, as their usual after-work activities may have to be reduced due to feeling unsafe in the dark or due to the temperature.
Winter can also be hard for many people suffering with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), this affects 2 million people in the UK alone and it is often called ‘The Winter Blues’.
Creating a positive work environment will help employees affected to feel as comfortable as possible during the winter period. For example, nobody wants to be working outside in freezing temperatures, why not invest in portable heaters to keep employees warm? This will boost morale and keep your employees nice and warm, resulting in better results for the business.
Prepping your business for the winter will boost morale, who wouldn’t want happy staff members?
Reduce Sickness Days
As the cold and frosty weather starts to creep in, so does seasonal flu. Statistics show that the rate of sickness absences more than doubles in winter compared to summer.
Preparing for such illnesses will help to reduce these expenditures and keep your workers healthy. You can prepare for such weather by allocating more budget for heating, purchasing protective and warm PPE, and by incorporating hybrid working which will allow workers to cut down on the dreaded cold commute.
These suggestions will improve your employees’s immune system which will be depleted as cold weather wears down your body’s natural defenses against infection.
Staff shortages start to take a financial toll on businesses. If employees are away from work for extended periods, the financial losses will build up. These costs are also important to note as they will need to be calculated into your financial budget.
Minimize Workplace Injuries
Preparing your workplace for icy weather can greatly reduce workplace injuries. Installing grit bins to deice common walking paths will lower the chances of slips, trips and falls from occurring. Providing workplace winter safety signs will remind your employees of the dangers that winter brings.
Slips, trips and falls incidents increase in winter due to the iciness of the ground, it has been proven that this type of incident accounts for 20% of all workplace injuries. Prepping the work environment for winter with these practices will make your workers feel safer, as well as reducing potential workplace injuries that would take your employees out of work for extended periods of time.
Improve Business Reputation
Providing warm PPE and providing a warm work environment will show to your workers that you care. Staff retention rates and employee happiness will greatly impact business reputation with customers and potential and current employees. During winter staff shortages, business reputation is incredibly important as you may need to hire new employees quickly if any injuries or illnesses create a weakened workforce.
Reputation is also vital to retaining talented staff members, this built-up experience is a key feature to many successful businesses. If you show you care about your employees, you will attract more talent to your business. Business reputation and trustworthiness is also important to potential customers who will pay more for companies that have a good reputation.
Allow for Family Time
When the festive period rolls around, family time is incredibly important for all. You may need to prepare for staff members taking extended holidays around this period to celebrate the festive season with their families. Preparing financially for this increase in holiday time will help you to stay afloat as a business in addition to keeping your employees happy.
Allocating specific holiday time will also keep your employees loyal to you, as impressive work benefits will attract great talent.
To conclude, preparing for the winter season is incredibly important both financially and for the well being of your employees. Maintaining staff well being is paramount to remaining successful over the winter period. Purchase warm PPE, prepare a winter fund for the extra heating costs and you should successfully make it through the winter season.
Written by Luthien on behalf of health and safety equipment supplier, Morsafe.
