The holidays are not always the most wonderful time of the year when it comes to managing employees. Along with the festivities come vacation requests. Uh-oh. Say “yes” to everyone and you’re shorthanded. Say “no” to too many and you kill morale and motivation. How do you make your employees happy but keep your business functioning properly?
Deciding which employees will and won’t get the vacation dates they want can make you feel like Santa trying to deliver presents to every house before Christmas morning — nearly impossible.
Instead of anguishing over each request on a case-by-case basis, have a basic vacation request policy. That levels the playing field and saves you lots of headaches.
Avoid the anticipated frustration by trying practical approaches for handling vacation requests fairly.
Make it a team effort
After you decide on general guidelines, get employees’ input. Have them submit ideas for policy rules. The more suggestions, the better the final policy. Employees will be more likely to value a policy they helped create.
Set a deadline (and follow it)
Instead of having your staff request time off at any time, have them submit a request for vacation by a certain date, well before the holidays. Forcing them to plan ahead a little will prevent you from being crushed by a wave of last-minute vacation requests.
Make them call “dibs”
Not everyone will like this, but it works. Along with settling vacation request disputes, this system also serves as a motivational perk for senior staff. And if they can get past their frustration, junior workers may see it as an incentive to work toward.
Give preference based on seniority
Not everyone will like this, but it works. Along with settling vacation request disputes, this system also serves as a motivational perk for senior staff. And if they can get past their frustration, junior workers may see it as an incentive to work toward.
If the process of managing vacation scheduling requests becomes too draining, make sure to plan some well-deserved time off for yourself.
