When Key Staff Take Annual Leave, Give Them A Break!

This next statement should come as no surprise to you: When you employ someone, eventually they're going to want to go on annual leave. Knowing that, why do so many small - medium business owners and managers plan so poorly for this time?

Here's a few easy to implement tips:

Systemise and prepare

• Set an office policy of "no contact on holidays" - this includes calls, text messages and email - and make sure that all staff are aware of it. (It's not good for you to follow this procedure only to find their counterpart has been burning up the holidaying staff member's Blackberry all morning.)
  
  
• Formulate a comprehensive checklist that covers everything that could foreseeably crop up and make sure it's done prior to the staff member going on holiday.
  
  
• Recognise that there probably will be other things that arise during that staff member's absence, but encourage your other staff members to fix the problems themselves. (They'll be far more keen to, knowing that the same courtesy will apply to them when they're on holidays.)
  
  
• If the staff member has a work mobile phone - keep it at the office during their vacation time.
  
  
• Set up an "out of office" auto reply that lets email contacts know who the alternate contact in the office is.
  
  
• This one is the most important if you want this to really work. Your staff member can't come back from their holidays, rested, refreshed, relaxed and walk back into chaos with the finger of blame pointed at them because they "were not able to be called".
  
  

The personal touch 

• Find out where your staff member is staying and organise for a bottle of bubbly to be sent to their room with a card from the team wishing them a great vacation.
  
  
• About half way through their time off, send them a text message reading something like this: "Hi Tim, We all hope you're having a great time away. Just wanted to let you know we miss you! Don't write back, just keep on enjoying yourselves - Jane".
  
  
• If the staff member is staying at home for their annual leave - have the office send them a postcard saying "Wish you weren't here!" with a signature from everyone in the office.
  
  
• A little note on the desk or a chocolate bar with a welcome back message on the morning the staff member arrives back is always a nice treat. Diarise to do this the night before (so much easier than running around the morning of).
  
  

Now - I'm not suggesting that you do each one of these things every time your staff go on holidays. Pick one and be creative.

This will take practice but it should be something you strive for, for the following reasons: If you're business can't run without this key person while they're on two weeks leave, what would it be like if they weren't working for you alltogether?

Also - you don't generate good will with your staff member's family if they're constantly having their holiday interrupted with a 1001 work "emergencies".

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