Vacation and the Workplace

As the owner of a small company, you are in charge of making a lot of decisions, including ones that can greatly affect your employees opinions on the business. You have to choose what health care providers to offer along with other important benefits like how much vacation time each person can take. 

A recent study from a staffing firm called The Creative Group found that offering employees the chance to take time off whenever they liked would likely increase productivity. This would only be allowed so long as the staff members' work did not suffer, and may prove to be a major draw to get new employees to join your company. Here are some other things to consider when choosing vacation benefits:

Think of Your Staffs' Ages
Different generations of people look for varying benefits when it comes to choosing a new place of employment. As the head of a small company, it's important to take this into consideration when figuring out what vacation time to offer. Millenials tend to accept employment offers with businesses that offer more time off and opportunities to work from home. If you hope to employ individuals from the younger generations, you'll need to factor this in to your benefits packages.

Consider Paid Holidays
Does your company plan to close on a holiday that falls on a weekday? Not paying your employees for that day off is a bummer, as their paycheck will be smaller than usual. Instead, consider opting to offer paid holidays. You may be thinking, "But how? I don't have the finances!" Don't panic. By holidays we don't mean obscure celebrations like Groundhog Day or Bastille Day. Entrepreneur suggests offering payment for the six major holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving (and the following Friday) and Christmas. If your staff wants to take time off around other holidays like Easter, that is up to them. They can choose to use paid time off or even break into their sick time if necessary. If possible, you may consider adding Presidents Day, Good Friday, Veterans Day and Martin Luther King Day to your list of paid holidays. Entrepreneur even mentions that many companies allow their employees to take time off on their birthdays.

What About Workplace Satisfaction?
Everyone needs a break now and then, even the boss (you!). Spending 40 hours a week, every week at any job is likely to cause burnout. That's why vacations were invented. It's important to offer your employees enough vacation time so that they can get away from the job and relax. Then they will return feeling refreshed and ready to be productive. Your staffers may even like their jobs so much they'll show their appreciation by sending fun custom postcards from their destination. Offering quality vacation time will help you retain employees, avoid burnout and even entice new staff members to join the team. Plus, everyone will be a little bit happier when they return from their well-deserved time off.