Create Staff Vacation Schedules

Today’s societal stress is increasing the value of vacations, experts say. As vacations take on renewed importance, advanced planning can reduce headaches, while maintaining smooth operation of your business. 

“Since 9/11, time with family and friends away from the workplace has become very important to our staff,” says a general manger of a vacation community in Pennsylvania. “A vacation plan is critical to the success of the organization, as well as retention of key team members.”

By scheduling well in advance, special situations can be accommodated, the manager says. “In the last few years we had a team member who wanted to take her family to the Caribbean to meet family members for the first time,” he says. “In a second situation, we had a staff member whose daughter had the opportunity to go to NASA Space Camp. These are important milestones for team members. If a business wants to try to retain its best team members, these special requests need to be honored as often as possible.”

Scheduling ahead allows for the appropriate coverage to be arranged, for vacations to be planned around your company’s busiest times of year and for project deadlines to be pushed up or extended, if necessary.

Scheduling Tips
Always let employees know the times of year that you would prefer them to take their vacations. For instance, holiday weeks typically are slower, so recommend your workers take that time off.

Consider privacy issues. It is not necessary that you know where they are going or what they are doing during their time off. Make sure they give proper advanced notice and arrange for coverage.

Develop a Vacation Policy
Introduce new employees to a written vacation policy, outlining when they can take vacation and what type of written notice is needed, advises Paul DiModica, president of DigitalHatch, a management consulting company.

Policy basics, DiModica adds, should include: The number of people in each department allowed to vacation at the same time, emergency contact numbers and a list of activities and important issues about customers, prospects and operational problems that may require management during the employee’s absence.

A good ractice to try is allow your employees to work out vacation schedules among themselves.

Record Data for Vacationing Employees
“We utilize one trick for vacations that I have found to be invaluable,” says the owner and creator of a floor re-finishing company in Pennsylvania. “When someone is out, all others are required to keep a written log or journal for that person. We keep it simple with basic information to get the vacationer back up to speed as quickly as possible, which makes returning from vacation less stressful.

“If you ask anyone in management, they will tell you that returning from vacation is much harder than scheduling one,” he adds. “Using the journals from all departments, one can get back to business without stress and knowing all the details of what was missed while they were gone.”

Maximize Scheduling Efficiency
Experts in companies that specialize in business scheduling solutions advise implementing user-friendly automated time and attendance systems can streamline vacation scheduling, reduce costs associated with managing vacation policies and ensure fair application of paid leave policies.

Software such as Microsoft Outlook calendars or other calendar- based scheduling systems. Another good idea is to put someone in charge of receiving requests and keeping track of everyone’s days and attendance. Have a master schedule in either Excel or some other format to keep track of who is out when.

Hidden Vacation Opportunities
“Vacation time is a great way to test systems, especially when the person who normally has the answer leaves,” a business coach adds. “Companies find out who controls too much information and who needs more training to work more efficiently on their own.”