Understanding how internal and external factors affect the productivity of your employees can play a vital part in supporting their wellbeing and enabling them to reach their full potential. This is why at the start of any project we work with our clients to understand their workplace culture and what employees want from their workplace. Many businesses want to use design to improve productivity and yet don’t take employees’ working habits into account.

Our parent company Extentia Group recently addressed these issues in its report “Overcoming the UK’s Productivity Challenge”. As part of this, we included questions about British Summer Time (BST) to understand if this twice-yearly seasonal clock change is one of the factors that can have an effect on people’s productivity at work.

Almost half of all respondents believed that BST could affect their productivity, with 40% admitting it particularly affected performance in the mornings. These alarming statistics were reiterated by the fact that over half of workers believe their entire routine has to be adjusted due to the changing clocks, with more than a third (34%) struggling to get up in the mornings. On average, respondents felt the effect of the change to and from BST for four days following the change, but more than 10% of women felt affected for more than two weeks. These findings are backed up by the EU Commission who, earlier this year, backed a proposal to stop the obligatory one-hour clock change which extends daylight hours in summer EU-wide. However, this is just the first step of many in the process towards making this legislation and it is also unclear how Brexit will affect the UK’s position.

So, what can organisations do to support their employees during these challenging times? One consideration we ask our client to keep in mind, is the look and feel of the work environment – is it inviting, comfortable and flexible? Are there spaces that will appeal to the differing needs of your teams and can employees tailor their working environments?

Our consultants will ensure that every detail is considered and chosen for its blend of visual appeal and practical application and, through clever furnishings and intuitive layouts, supports your workers during challenging times.

To download “Morning Larks vs Night Owls: Overcoming the UK’s Productivity Challenge”, click HERE