Challenges (and Solutions) to Unlimited Vacation Policy - Workology

Challenges (and Solutions) to Unlimited Vacation Policy - Workology Challenges (and Solutions) to Unlimited Vacation Policy Unlimited vacation policies, or no vacation policy, can be a real head-scratcher for the uninitiated.  How is that even possible!?  Well, of course it is possible and fearless  leaders are doing it. Still, if you and your employees are used to a fairly traditional work environment, the prospect of letting go of paid time off can cause some serious freak-out moments. In this post, I want break down many of the challenges that come up from team members when you introduce something like an unlimited vacation policy or Results-Only Work Environment, and the solutions. Challenge:  You are taking away my benefit. Vacation time, paid time off, sick time, personal days all of these things are so ingrained in our work culture. People feel very protective over their days. They save them up, hoard them, fret over using them, and generally spend a lot of time thinking about them. This mentality is hard to break and it wont change overnight.  Employees value PTO because they feel chained to the office for the better part of the week. Their time is dictated by their boss. Be here during these hours, and if youre sick or have a medical appointment or need a mental health day, you gotta run it by me first! PTO is a small piece of power and control in the lives of individual employees. Solution:  Unlimited vacation is a better benefit, if you do it right. The system of tracking time and allowing and paying for people to take time off work is a broken system. Fixing that system is an invaluable benefit that goes above and beyond anything that PTO could provide. It gives employees the power, control, and autonomy they deserve as competent adults. An unlimited vacation policy will empower your employees. It just takes time to change the corporate culture so that employees feel the true benefit of owning their time. ALL of their time. Challenge:  Youll make me work harder Another concern I hear is that without set vacation times, employees will be expected to take on more work. Youll expect me to answer the phone at midnight! How will I know when to unplug? Youll just pile on more work and I wont have vacation time to say no, Im on vacation now.. I cant do it today. Solution:  Employees and managers agree on measurable results. Maybe you see a trend here. Theres a  lot of fear of the unknown when it comes to these changes. Throwing out the  time-clock  means that managers and employees have to get crystal clear on the work  expectations, results, and how to measure success.  If an employee feels buried in work and stressed-out constantly, theres a problem regardless of vacation policies. The conversation should never be an order handed down from management, but rather a conversation about what the outcome looks like and how the team thinks they should get there. Individuals decide when, how, and where they need to be to get results. Challenge:  No one will ever take a vacation! You know this is a problem everywhere, especially in the United States, surveys say. There are a few reasons people dont take vacation. 1. Theyre buried in work (and for lots of reasons.. lack of efficiency, incompetence, or not enough support/staff) 2.They enjoy work. 3. Theyre a workaholic. 4. They dont have vacation time. 5. They feel guilty for taking time off, or afraid they will be seen as a slacker The last one is a big one and I call the root of that problem Sludge. Sludge is the judgement cast on our co-workers for not following the rules of the officeyou shall be on time, in your seat, and looking busy, and that makes you a good worker. Solution: People will take the time they need when the focus is the work Take away all of the Sludge that goes with the trappings of outdated traditional work environments, and people will find they are more productive, suddenly work faster and harder to get results and then enjoy the time they now have complete control over. Its miraculous, really, and weve seen it happen over and over again. Just imagine all the time people save when theyre not worried about the commute, the sick kid, the judgey co-worker, the water cooler gossip, filling out timesheets, and jumping hoops to prove their worth. The work and their results are all that matter Challenge: Everyone will abuse it and take too much vacation! This is the opposite problem that generally pops up from managers and employees who are afraid of the slackers among them. Same thing goes for this challenge. Its a sludge problem. Solution:  If employees dont get results, they dont have a job. Simple. Take away the measuring stick of time + presence = results and you suddenly find yourself with a startling question: What is the work I need to do to get results? If you get your work done quickly, good for you! Your reward is more time. If you are slow, inefficient, and bad at your job, you either figure out a way to improvequick!or you are cut from the team. That should make people jump for joy! What a simple and elegant reward system. What a logical employee motivation program. Throwing out policies and rules surrounding the time clock can be scary for some managers and employees, period. It takes trust and it takes culture change and it isnt always easy. But man, oh man, the results are mind-blowing! Challenges (and Solutions) to Unlimited Vacation Policy Whats your opinion on  unlimited  vacation policy?