How to Create Vacation Policies That Result in Jaded Employees...

John Hollon has a post up over at Workforce regarding the recent decision of Bob Nardelli to tell all Chrysler workers they would “be required to use two weeks of their vacation time in July, in a company-wide shutdown intended to improve the automaker’s efficiency and boost productivity".

That got me thinking.  Next vacation, I'm going to find a wood-paneled station wagon to rent, like the one pictured to the right...

It also got me thinking about time off.  Vacations, Personal Day, PTO banks - all good things for employees, right?  The answer is a strong "yes", unless companies over-define the way time-off can be used.

With that in mind, here's my top ways that companies can turn a positive (time-off with pay!) into a neutral to negative event:

--Use it OR Lose it with no cultural protection - Some companies like to have a policy mandating employees to use all of their vacation or PTO each year.  That's cool, but if the culture mandates face time or workloads dictate employees can't use their time off, it turns into a negative.

--Take your two weeks together - One of my favorites.  We want you to have some time off, but you have to take it all at one time.  You can't split it up or we'll crumble from the complexities...

--Take it when it's convenient for us - See the Nardelli example listed above...

--Over-defining when sick time can be used - As lame as it sounds, some companies still don't allow employees to use sick time for the care of children or other loved ones.  You're kidding me, right?

Notice that I didn't list scheduling your vacation vs. the needs of the business.  Lots of employees in structured environments get upset about having to schedule their vacation vs. how many other people are scheduled to be off, but that's business (and being a part of a team). 

I'm lucky to be working for a company believes that time off is important.  As a result, our leadership grants a lot of it, and also takes a real world approach to allow the banking of time within reason, thus managing the inherent conflicts between being busy and the use it or lose it camp.

Comments

[Jennifer Benz]

Great post! Time off can be one of those surprisingly emotional issues within a company -- especially when the "policy" and the culture (or reality of the work environment) are in conflict. Some of the most difficult communication projects I've done have been around changing time off policies--especially in organizations that have allowed employees to bank ridiculous amounts of time (even if they may never use it or get it paid out).

And, I'm always surprised how many companies still make their employees feel like junior high school kids trying to ditch class when they need an unplanned day off. Best thing is to treat your people like the responsible and considerate adults they are when designing the policies, and communicating them--and training managers.

[Newman Orson Young Bertram]

I sometimes wonder what planet people come from.

What is the purpose of running the business. Why doesn't the leader just say do whatever you want and show up to work if you want if it is not too much trouble for you.

I understand the people side of the comment but when you work in a manufacturing environment where you are tied to delivering to your customers you need to manage this better.

In the chrysler example they are closed for shutdown in the 1st two weeks of the summer like other auto companies. Does it make sense to have people take their vacation time in the balance of the year when you would need to carry extra employees to cover? Better yet let me lay you off and then you can take vacation when you come back to work cause we won't need experienced people when we are running production.

Besides don't worry the employees at Chrysler will surely call-in "sick", or go off on sick leave for the time in the rest of the year. Not to mention the 5 weeks of holidays, personal absence days, and extra plant holidays that no other business has. Trust me they get their time off.

I think you need to look at what makes sense for your business.

Times are tough and they demand tougher decisions to be made. Sorry if keeping the business going for everyone gets in the way of your time off.