Keeping your employees happy, focused and productive is vital to the success of your business. And today, people view benefits – including paid vacation – as being just as important as salary when it comes to where they work.
It’s time that every employer got smart about the critical need to offer work/life balance to all team members, regardless of their job, age, length of service or career stage.
The Benefits of Vacation Time
The numbers tell the story when it comes to the benefits of offering attractive vacation options:
- Less burnout: In a recent survey, 37 percent of working fathers said they would consider a new job if it offered them better work/life balance.
- Better employee health: In a study of 13,000 middle-aged men at risk for heart disease, those who skipped vacations for five consecutive years were found to be 30 percent more likely to suffer heart attacks than those who took off at least one week per year.
- Higher energy levels: Time off helps employees renew their energy and creativity and get a fresh perspective on their work. This is highly positive not only for them, but also for their colleagues and any clients or customers with whom they interact.
- An improved bottom line: Ultimately, if employees are more energized and engaged, overall company productivity improves.
How to Administer Vacation Time Fairly
The way you manage vacation requests can impact the types of job candidates you attract, as time off is seen as directly connected to quality of life. Your success depends on a mix of structured policies, flexibility and avoidance of favoritism.
- Communicate your policy right from the start. If employees don’t know the details of your vacation policy, two things may happen. Either employees will ask constantly for time off because they see no boundaries, or they will be too hesitant to ask at all. The first scenario could lead to resentment among co-workers, while the second could result in frustration and burnout.
- Be flexible. Unless you are bound by a union contract, write some flexibility into your time off policies. This should include managerial discretion, so you can allow for unplanned situations.
- Set deadlines for requests to be made. Let everyone know – at the same time – of deadlines for requesting time off. This is important because you will need a process for deciding whose requests are granted and whose are not.
- Offer incentives for working during peak times. Consider rewarding employees who are willing to work holidays, weekends or other popular times for most vacation requests.
- Track previous requests. Keep track of information including when employees made vacation requests, why requests were made and the actual time off. This will help you spot any problem patterns. It also will put you in a better position if you have to deny a request. And, you can pinpoint employees who rarely ask for time off. They may deserve it, but lack the confidence to ask.
Partner with the recruitment pros at PrideStaff Fresno as you design and implement a winning hiring and talent management strategy, including your employee benefits packages. Read our related posts or contact us today to learn more.