Summer can tap the breaks on any business, slowing orders and crimping morale. Add the current recession and the office climate can take on the listlessness of a William Faulkner novel.
But, still weeks shy of the first whiff of autumn, torpor is giving way to people gearing up for a busy fall.
Joe Guilderson, president of Corporate Audio Visual in Elmsford, a sound, video, lighting and staging company that specializes in live events, has made changes to his business model to get through the dog days of August.
“The summer months are definitely a lot slower for us in general,” Guilderson said. “In the past we focused purely on live events; a one-time conference or a gala dinner; or a product launch or a fashion show, something temporary. But with the changes in the economy, we’ve had to make adjustments just like everybody else. Instead of setting up on a temporary basis in an event space, now we’re going into the clients”™ venues and designing and permanently installing things for them.”
As clients”™ budgets were being cut, “groups have trimmed a lot of events out right now because they’ve been deemed excessive.”
This also applies to nonprofit clients, who represent a big part of the business, Guilderson said. So this summer, Guilderson hosted a fundraiser for Support Connection, a nonprofit that provides services to cancer survivors, at his Elmsford warehouse.
“Many have had many of their corporate sponsors back out or dramatically reduce what they were able to give,” Guilderson said. “They may still do something but it would be less glitzy ”“ on both sides, both corporate and nonprofit.”
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At Co-Communications, a public relations and marketing agency with offices in Simsbury, Conn., and Mount Kisco, President Stacey Cohen has been busy preparing for fall.
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In September, the staff will participate in a training program in conjunction with Westchester Community College, which will cover topics like team-building skills and goal-setting.
“I truly believe that during times like this, you really want to strengthen your internal team and training is the way to do it,” Cohen said.
Cohen said although she always tried to focus on the positive, it is equally important to be up front and honest with employees.
“My staff has been great and when I see them go the extra mile I acknowledge those employees,” Cohen said. “Even if you can”™t reward employees in a monetary way, it really does make a difference.”Â
Another way to boost employee morale during a downturn is to continue company traditions, Cohen said.
“For instance, we always make a big deal about celebrating individual staff birthdays ”“ sharing an office lunch together and thoughtful gifts that have ranged from an iPod to GPS system to UGG boots,” Cohen said. “Instead of discarding this tradition, we toned down the price tag of the birthday gift. Recognition ”“ such as acknowledging birthdays and company anniversaries ”“ and praise are powerful tools that cost little or no money.”
Cohen also kept the tradition of fewer summer hours on the clock.
“There is less demand put on us during the summer months from the membership, which gives us time to get our house in order again and get ready for the fall programs,” said Jack Condlin, president of the Stamford Chamber of Commerce in Stamford, Conn.
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This summer, Condlin said, the Chamber hosted three events “to keep businesses rolling forward.”
“What we do is, recognizing that in the summertime things wind down a little bit and people go on vacation,” Condlin said. “We have a few programs to try to generate interest and help people get out of the house and do things.”
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Summer events included a summer social at the Stamford Yacht Club in June, a boat cruise in July and a “party on the plaza” in partnership with the Town Center Mall.
August, however, has been quiet.
“The month of August is slow in the sense that we don’t do any outside events, so we try to concentrate staff vacation time during that month,” Condlin said. “The Fall is always a re-launching period. In September, we have our annual meeting and fall programs, so we’re pretty tied up right now doing a lot of stuff at the chamber.”
“Yes, summer is a slower time for many companies,” said Kimberly Douglas, New Jersey-based author of “The Firefly Effect: Build Teams That Capture Creativity and Catapult Results.”
“A larger percentage of employees are taking vacations, and those who are in the office don’t tend to be idea-generating machines who are boosting productivity and the bottom line with every tap on their keyboards,” Douglas said. “However, there’s no excuse for allowing your company to fall into the classic summertime slump. Especially in the midst of this economic downturn, you can’t afford to let those summertime blahs get the best of you and your team. Now more than ever, companies need to regroup, re-engage, and re-energize their employees. There’s probably no bailout money coming your way, so for your organization, innovation is the ticket out of the recession and into prosperity.”
