Business owner and former neurosurgeon Daniel Wei-Chen Hong, MD, uses the power of the sun to keep his team happy, healthy and productive with “Summer Fridays,” a business policy that typically offers employees half or full days off between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

“Since making the transition from neurosurgeon to entrepreneur, I’ve come to know and love the opportunities that summer brings,” he writes for Entrepreneur.com. “For our team, it provides the opportunity to build company morale through group activities, while also boosting each employee’s overall health and wellness. Many entrepreneurs have a tendency to focus on a specific goal and overlook the importance of crafting solid relationships with their employees. Summer Fridays should be viewed not only as a bridge connecting employers and employees, but also as an investment in the emotional stability of your team.”

Giving employees some extra time off to enjoy their summers is a great perk and should help keep them focused when they are on the job, but Wei-Chen Hong focuses more on the physiological benefits of outdoor summer activities. As an MD, Wei-Chen Hong understands how getting employees out in the sun can help both them and his business. Here’s why he says he takes Summer Fridays seriously:

1. Time outdoors is linked to positive moods. “Multiple research studies have found that people who got more sun exposure showed less signs of depression and had improved cognitive performance…Simply put, more time spent outdoors equals happier employees, which leads to increased productivity. Basically, a win-win-win situation.”
2. Natural light can improve quality of sleep. “A 2013 study from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana showed that individuals who received sun exposure during the workday got 46 more minutes of sleep, on average, each night, as compared to those without sun exposure. Some sunlight, plus more sleep, equals a refreshed and more productive employee. Are you starting to see the sunshine?”
3. More vitamin D is linked to a healthier heart. “It’s long been known that vitamin D is beneficial for bone health, decreasing the risk for osteoporosis. It has also been associated with the prevention and treatment of other diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Recent studies have suggested that vitamin D plays a role in lowering blood pressure and vitamin D deficiency is a known risk factor for heart disease.”

Wei-Chen Hong makes great points about the benefits of UV exposure, but for us in the tanning industry there might be another takeaway: There’s no excuse for salon employees to not be happy and productive all year ’round!

Click here to read the article from Entrepreneur.com.

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