Tired of disorganized vacation planning? Fix it with these tips!
Having a clear and efficient vacation planning process is important for both employees and employers. A complicated or disorganized vacation planning process can often cause frustration and stress for both employees and management.
As many companies start planning their employees' annual vacation during spring, here are some tips to consider to simplify the process:
Create a time off policy
Create a written policy that outlines the company's approach to vacation planning, including guidelines for requesting time off. Don’t forget to distribute your policy or any changes that you make to it.
Encourage early planning
Start the process of vacation planning well in advance, so you have sufficient time to make arrangements for staffing needs. Encourage your leaders to talk about vacation with their team and to set guidelines that work for specifically them.
Consider your business needs
When approving vacation requests, consider the company's staffing needs during the requested time off. Make sure that critical roles are not left understaffed and that the workload is distributed evenly among remaining staff. Even if the employer tries to accommodate the employees' requests as best as possible, it is ultimately the employer who decides.
Set and communicate expectations
Communicate the policy, what the process looks like, and important dates or deadlines to your employees. Decide on the date by which all employees must have submitted their vacation requests. Let employees know as soon as their request has been approved to avoid any potential frustration.
Use the right tools
Utilize technology, such as an HRIS, to automate vacation planning and ensure that all requests are tracked and managed efficiently. Say goodbye to the vacation spreadsheets and time spent distributing a link or file to your employees. With a tool like Alexis, you can gather everything in one place and make sure that all managers and employees get a good overview.
Plus, your employees and managers can request and approve time directly from Slack or Teams.
Book a demo to learn more about AlexisHR and how we help companies simplify vacation planning and time management.
