In this digital age, I keep a paper calendar. It’s a letter-size one with a black cover and tabs for each month that folds open to display a full week, with appointment time slots under each day. I know I could set up Outlook to display the digital calendar I also keep in that format, but it’s just not the same to me. 
One of the first things I do with my new calendar each year is mark out any already-planned vacation. Putting my vacation on my calendar protects those days and gives me that little spark of anticipation every time I turn past the notation.
I am a big believer that vacation truly disconnected from work keeps me sane and healthy. It is getting harder and harder to come by. So my advice for your New Year’s resolution is to help your employees take full advantage of those valuable vacation benefits.
Why not use it?
The U.S. Travel Association released some interesting survey results in August 2014. Obviously, that trade group is interested in full utilization of vacation benefits. Nevertheless, the results should be eye-opening for employers.
The survey reached 1,303 American workers over the age of 18 who received paid time off (PTO) and worked at least 35 hours a week. About 40 percent reported that they did not use all of their PTO each year because it was difficult to take all of their vacation days. The largest chunk of them attributed their vacation avoidance to the “mountain of work” piling up on their desks.
The survey also showed that workers who found it easy to take time off reported higher rates of happiness with their job, finances, professional success, and overall mood. Whether they found it difficult or easy to take advantage of their paid vacation benefits, they overwhelmingly agreed that vacation makes them happier and helps them avoid burnout.
Management challenge
It takes work to facilitate employees’ time off from work. As a business leader, you are responsible for coordinating work flow and accommodating your employees’ days off to prevent disruption to business operations while giving them guilt-free time away. Here are some tips on adding value to those vacation benefits—for your company and your employees.
Share the calendar. Everyone’s approved vacation time should be public information. A publicly shared electronic calendar actually works better for this than my old-school paper calendar. The shared e-calendar can be updated easily by authorized users, and you don’t have to repeatedly e-mail it around. Having a shared vacation calendar is not an excuse not to communicate with colleagues for planning purposes, however. For example, HR should communicate in advance to managers when the department will be short-staffed and unavailable to onboard new hires.
Cover the work. It isn’t vacation if employees have to either get all of their normal work done before they go or catch up on it all when they return. You don’t want projects to miss deadlines or problems to sit unresolved because employees are on vacation. Make planning coverage for upcoming vacations a routine part of team meetings. Identify backups, and see to it that vacationers address their essential duties and deadlines before they depart.
Don’t overwhelm those left behind. The backups have their own workload. Consider delegating the vacationer’s duties to two or more colleagues so you don’t overwhelm one person. Or bring in reinforcements from staffing agencies to cover the work or allow backups to offload less-sensitive tasks.
Arm the auto replies. Establish a checklist of tasks for employees to complete before they leave on vacation, including setting up an auto reply on their work e-mail accounts. Consider creating a standard format you want employees to use to ensure that your customers and vendors know how to reach the vacationing worker’s assigned backup. Forwarding calls or changing voicemail greetings also should be on your checklist.
Glad tidings for 2017
Here’s wishing a happy year to you and all of your employees as you fully exhaust your 2017 vacation time. Giving your employees time to unplug and unwind during a well-deserved break is good for them and good for business.
Dinita L. James is an attorney with Gonzalez Law, LLC, practicing in the firm’s Tempe, Arizona, office. She may be contacted at dinita.james@gnzlaw.com