As a business leader or manager, you’re no doubt aware that even the smallest productivity increase can significantly improve your bottom line. Infrared heating is an efficient, clean, safe, and effective way to keep your employees warm at work, which can have a tangible and beneficial impact on productivity.
How Being Cold Affects Your Employees
In a fascinating article entitled Want More Productive Workers? Adjust Your Thermostat, psychologist Ron Friedman details interesting research results, such as:
- In temperatures below 68 degrees, employees made 44% more errors than when the temperature was warmer (specifically, 77 degrees).
- Cold employees are more distracted, costing employers 10% more per hour, per employee.
- Feeling physically cold causes people to perceive others as less generous and caring, which is bad for the workplace atmosphere.
Clearly, keeping your employees warm no matter what the temperature is outside can make all the difference during the winter months.
Here’s why:
- Optimal temperatures allow employees to concentrate and make fewer mistakes. In this way, they won’t have to spend time correcting errors but can move on and get other work done.
- Cold employees are expending energy to stay warm, which means they have less energy for other activities, so tasks take longer and other works doesn’t get finished.
- Cold employees are also distracted and, therefore, more likely to have accidents; comfortable temperatures reduce the risk of accidents and injuries.
- From birth, humans associate warmth with trust, so when they’re cold at work, they’re less likely to trust their coworkers. This can make the atmosphere tense and can inhibit collaboration and teamwork.
