subject: Air Conditioning - The Best Decision You Can Make [print this page] Installing air conditioning into a workplace is probably one of the best business decisions you can make for a happy workforce.
While it can seem like a large financial outlay on first inspection, it is a small price to pay for the comfort and wellbeing of everyone within the office, and not necessarily on a charitable scale either. A hot, sweaty, uncomfortable workforce is not a happy or productive workforce, and is one that will, if forced to sit in unbearably hot conditions over the summer months, become resentful towards bosses who have refused to install air conditioning.
You also need to consider the impression your company is giving. A lack of air conditioning in an office which regularly accommodates clients, whether it is a solicitor's office or one which hosts corporate meetings is a huge faux pas. All visitors will remember of their stay is the hot, uncomfortable feeling they had as they sat in unbearable temperatures.
Even if your business isn't a client-facing one, and does most of its business over the telephone, an uncomfortable, hot workforce will not perform at its best and even over the telephone will come across as less affable and chirpy. Tempers will fray easier, and you run the risk of being under-staffed, with some staff choosing to call in sick on a balmy summer's day rather than face eight hours sitting sweating at a desk. After all, which would you choose?
If your business relies on customers physically entering your premises and browsing for potential purchases, such as a shop store, then to neglect to condition the air to a reasonable temperature is commercial suicide. You will ruin any chances your business has of gaining impulse purchases from browsing, because customers simply won't want to browse if they are too hot.
This is especially important if your business operates large fridges for drinks and food as these emit an incredible amount of heat, so much so that air conditioning will be required in the premises year- round, rather than just in the summer months.
Any workplace will benefit from cool air in the summer though. Currently in Britain there isn't a maximum working temperature, and unions are campaigning for the law to change, because workers have had to put up with unreasonable working temperatures in recent years. Thankfully, most employers are very reasonable and do actually care about the welfare of their staff, and have already implemented appropriate cooling devices. Those that haven't will find business karma coming to bite them come the summer months.
