How can I stop holidays affecting company productivity?

How should I approach recruitment during a recession?

Has your organisation suffered through the annual summer and Christmas holiday crunches with too few disgruntled staff and too little productivity? If so, it's time to rethink your holiday policy or, if you haven't got one, to create one.

A well-considered and written holiday policy will undoubtedly help keep disagreement, discontentment and disappointment at bay. It should also take all the imponderables out of staff holiday planning by detailing:

  • How many days leave employees are entitled to – Almost all workers above school leaving age are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday (28 days for workers working a five-day week).This is a minimum entitlement – you can decide to offer more
  • How many people can be off on the same days – taking into account peak workload times, end of month and end of year requirements
  • The procedure for requesting leave -.e.g. an employee wishing to book leave first checks with their line manager, then submits the leave form for their manager to sign before sending on to HR
  • How much notice – employees must give that they wish to take leave e.g. one month's notice for leave of four days or longer, and at least one week's notice for leave of three days or less.
  • How unavoidable conflicts will be resolved – e.g. on a first come/first served basis; by seniority or service longevity. But above all, be clear, conflicts will be resolved by considering the needs of the business and ensuring you have enough staff to get the work done, whatever the time of year
  • The policy on carrying over leave – e.g. encourage and remind employees to take their full leave entitlement spread over the 12 months as it's better for wellbeing and productivity. You may decide not to allow unused leave to be carried over into the following year but, equally, can choose to remain flexible and treat requests on an individual basis
  • Sickness and leave – here, the law helps by stating that employees continue to accrue their statutory minimum holiday entitlement as normal while absent from work due to sickness. However, if an employee becomes ill before or during their annual leave, they are not entitled to convert that holiday to sick leave. It is your right though, again, to treat each case on its merit
  • Discretionary leave for emergencies and compassion: your policy should state whether this is a separate category or part of the vacation allocation; whether or not it will be paid and how much notice the employee must give
  • Handovers: define which employees' roles necessitate that they prepare a written handover before taking leave. Define in which roles an oral handover will suffice. Both should detail current work status, supported by relevant documents or notes, as well as where to find electronic or paper files. A meeting between the person going on leave, the person taking their place and the relevant manager should take place at a set time before their departure.
  • Total shutdown – Much of European business closes down completely in August. This includes some of the world's top economic performers. France , for instance, competes with US productivity despite taking 40 days off a year, and working an average of only 37 hours a week. So maybe this could be the simplest answer of all. Look closely at the Christmas week, for instance. How much business is really done then? Do some operations take place during this time while others stop? Could your offices be closed entirely, or could you work shortened hours? Do employees need to be there in person or could they work remotely?

To be competitive in attracting and retaining talent, look at industry and regional norms for holidays, paid and unpaid time off. Aim to give workers as much time as you can to create this attractive edge, always bearing in mind how much it will cost in terms of productivity.

Engender a positive attitude towards leave within your organisation. After all, taking regular annual leave can lead not only to higher productivity, but also to decreased stress and absenteeism. And that applies equally as much to you as to your staff.

Discuss this issue on The Employer Forum.