5 Steps To A Stress-Free Summer At The Office
1. Give Yourself Enough Time Approve Vacation Requests
It would help if you were specific about when vacation requests are due. Be sure to set a deadline for submitting vacation requests that give you enough time to project how employee absences might affect production schedules and project delivery dates and to resolve any conflicts. Some organizations require employees to submit vacation requests at the beginning of the calendar year; others have more lenient procedures. When employees submit vacation requests earlier in the year, you can plan accordingly with staffing availability and work with employees on altering the requested time off.
2. Communicate Your Vacation or PTO Policy
Remembering your employees of your vacation and paid time off policies is never a wrong time. Of course, this was hopefully covered during the orientation process. That process can be overwhelming, so a refresher is always excellent. Ensure your employees know when requests are due, how vacation time can be taken, and how disputes will be handled. Send out an email, bring it up at the next team meeting, or staple the policy to the bulletin board.
3. Staff Accordingly
Times have been harsh. If you’ve recently reduced your workforce, you may encounter issues when employees take vacations this summer. When planning your staffing levels, it is always best practice to consider holidays, sick leave and other employee absences. Ask yourself: who could cover this position if that person took a vacation? Maybe the answer is hiring temporary workers if it is a critical position and you can’t afford to have a full-time backup on your team. Create a backup list for everyone on your team. If the employee taking a vacation has a lot on their plate, you could parcel out their duties among several colleagues so that one person isn’t trying to do the work for two.
4. Prepare For The Absences
You may be prepared for employees to take vacations, but what about if they have clients they work with? It would help if you created a checklist for your employees of things to do before they leave for vacation.
Here’s an example:
To Do Before You Leave for Vacation:
Notify your clients beforehand that you will be out of the office. Make sure to tell them who on your team can be of assistance to them during this time.
Brief someone in your office on all open projects and what to do with them. Ensure to provide a list of essential contact information and details on accessing related files.
Record a vacation greeting to let callers know you will be out of the office and when they can expect you back. Also, do this for your e-mail in the form of an auto-reply.
5. Make The Office A Place Employees Want To Be This Summer
First, look at your forecast. When are your busiest times of the year? What do you have coming down the pipeline this summer? Once you identify your “busy” season this summer, you can encourage employees to work during those times. You can offer premium pay, bonuses or other incentives to those employees who work during the most popular vacation times. You don’t have to shell out millions to get your employees to work during the hot summer months. Even small gestures are appreciated.
Here are some ideas to make summer more enjoyable in the office:
Treat yourself and your employees. On your way back from lunch, pick up a treat for the office. Stop at Kroger and get some popsicles. Or stop at Dairy Queen and get some ice cream cones.
Encourage casual Fridays. Or Mondays. Or Wednesdays. It doesn’t matter the day, but we all need a break from professional clothing in the heat of summer. Let your employees wear flip-flops or shorts just once a week. See how it goes, and if everyone can handle the freedom to choose appropriate summer clothing, then maybe you could make it more than once a week. You may want to outline some rules so no one shows up in beach attire.
Create summer activities. Tell your employees to put a favorite beach toy on their desks. Have a sunglass decorating contest. Encourage everyone to bring in the recipe for their favorite beach cocktail. Play The Beach Boys or tropical music in the break room. Replace lunchroom chairs with lounge chairs. Suddenly, your office will feel more like a vacation than work. Employees can focus on work because they will no longer be Googling vacation spots.