Summer is in full swing. Traditionally, this is the time when people everywhere take time to get away, relax, and be with their families. Given how undermanned and thinly stretched some companies have become as a result of the economic chaos, the idea of employees taking time off may be a daunting one. This blog already addressed the importance of you taking time off to recharge. The same applies to all of your employees. Just as being able to get away and clear your head makes you a better and more effective leader/manager, having time off from work makes for happier, healthier, and more relaxed employees, and improves employee performance as a result.
Your responsibility as the leader/manager is to ensure that everyone gets some time away from their job. It’s up to you to figure out the logistics and make sure that it’s business as usual for the rest of the company. Being short-handed is no excuse for not giving your people much deserved vacation time. We all know that weekends tend to be short and full of errands and don’t count as vacation. You may even have to convince a dedicated employee to take some time off. So whether it’s a couple of long weekends or an actual week off, you have to figure out a way to let your employees take some vacations with minimal disruption to everyone else. Whether you spread the workload of the absent employee among his fellow workers or hire a temp to fill in, find a way to figure it out. Everyone needs time off. Never taking an actual vacation can lead to employee burn out, compromise the quality of their work, and even lead to them leaving the company. Be a leader/manager and take the bull by the horns. Be proactive and take care of your employees as well as yourself.
