“Oh yeah, I remember, they’re on holiday!” The winter blues have become a distant memory displaced by our glorious (ahem) British summer. With the kids off school complaining of boredom, you and your staff may be heeding the calls of warmer climates far from work. The benefits of staff taking time to recharge their batteries are indisputable to them and to you the employer. But without proper planning, you may have been left drastically short staffed this summer!
Plan Staff Leave in Advance
This is why you and your staff should plan annual leave well in advance. Many will have an idea of their holiday dates in the coming year, but still may not book it in until way down the line (“More admin? No thanks!”). If you can get an idea early enough of who’s taking their leave when, you can prevent any clashes and prepare well in advance to cover over any short periods when you might need all hands on deck. Of course they’ll be those last minute long weekends, weddings and what-ot that staff can request, which a flexible employer should in most instances allow – work permitting.
Stop Employee Battles for those Summer Holiday Peak Days
Even better, proper holiday planning can help put a stop to the ongoing underground war for those peak days that everyone’s after. A staggering one fifth of respondents in this study actually ‘resented’ a colleague for booking holiday dates that they wanted to use. Aside from adding a sour taste to their relationship, it also puts productivity at risk.
Make sure you’re ready for your busy periods! Whether your demand is seasonal, or always gets that unexplainable spike at certain times of the year, plan for it. Or risk missing out on a ton of business. This Michigan based snowboard and ski manufacturer previously suffered cyclically every summer when staff took leave during their most intense production quarter for the coming winter season. At one point the owner and co-founder themselves worked 12 hours, 6/7 days a week to keep up. To stop that happening again, they now offer staff the chance to double their holiday so long as they take it in winter and not through the summer. Clever!
What’s the best way for you to organise your annual leave calendar?
The HR Dept Toolkit has (amongst many other features) a powerful tool to allow you to organise and keep track of holiday leave through a digital, self-service online portal. Click here or get in touch to find out more.
Happy Summer Holidays!