With temperatures rising and employees’ children on break from school, summer’s often busy for businesses around the world. With the sun shining through office windows, it makes sense that many employees hope to use their PTO during June, July and August—both parents with children home from school and non-parents eager to make the most of the beautiful weather.
While vacation time is good for employee health, it has the potential to negatively impact a team’s functionality. Trying to balance time-off requests with the company’s productivity needs can make the summer months a stressful time for employers. But, with the right policies in place and enough planning, it doesn’t need to be such a headache. Here are a few practical tips for employers to consider when the weather gets nice and the PTO requests start flowing in.
A Transparent Approach to Managing Time Off
As time-off requests start to flood in during the summer time, it’s easy for employers to become stressed with managing all employee needs. Keeping an encouraging and transparent management system can help maintain positive company culture and effectively manage business.
Prioritize Transparency
Although it’s important for every employee to take time off, developing request deadlines in the summer months creates an extra buffer time to release early schedules. Early schedules encourage employees to make arrangements accordingly, whether that means changing plans or swapping shifts.
Time and attendance software like Attendance on Demand™ can provide significant insights during chaotic months. Tools like AoD can give employees more freedom to determine the schedule that works best for their summer festivities while taking some pressure off employers juggling last minute PTO requests. This encourages a culture of transparency and satisfaction while meeting business operational needs.
What Can Employers Do?
Develop a Game Plan with Request Deadlines
Maintaining a firm plan and clearly communicating expectations provides teams with direction during an in-flow of PTO requests.
Employers should develop a clear request deadline and approval process in advance. Employers then need to communicate the policy to the entire team early so every member understands expectations and has an equal opportunity to request PTO.
Clearly communicating company policy to all employees is crucial, whether it’s about deadline requests or taking PTO. And even if there becomes a shortage of workers, continuing to develop skillsets can help effectively get the job done.
Continue Developing Employee Skillsets
Cross-training employees across multiple roles can make coordinating PTO smoother and allow employees to enjoy their time completely off. Having more people capable of stepping into essential roles will allow employees to take more time off without significant impact on the company. Knowing the skills necessary in other roles also empowers employees to grow and step in as needed while minimizing workflow disruptions.
Encourage Employees to Enjoy Time Off
When employees feel guilty for requesting time off, they tend to spend their time away worrying about the work they’re missing. Instead of giving employees a hard time for requesting time off, it is important for employers to encourage them to enjoy their vacations so they return feeling recharged. In fact, research has shown that a restful vacation can boost employees’ productivity upon their return. By having a true break from work-related stresses, the likelihood they’ll return with a refreshed mind is much better. Plus, research has also shown that overworked employees tend to be less productive and have increased stress levels.
PTO Season is Here – And Business is Still Thriving
Regardless of company’s size, having a clear paid time off policy that suits the company’s needs is crucial for when the summer time rolls around. Part of encouraging and caring for employees includes allowing them to seek a fair balance between their work and home lives. In the warmer months, that means the opportunity to take adequate breaks to focus on family, friends and themselves.
Employers should establish a clear plan, actively support employee growth and foster a culture of transparency and encouragement in order to build a strong foundation for their workforce – especially when summer time calls for increased vacation time.
Eager to create a simplified PTO request system? Let’s connect. We’d love to chat through your options.
