Make Summer Vacation Employee Scheduling a Breeze
byHere in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, people are celebrating the beginnings of spring by peeling off their sweaters and breaking out the sandals. Are they jumping the gun a bit? Maybe, but they just can’t help it – summer is exciting! The weather is nice, the days are longer, and vacations nearly call out to you, just begging to be taken.
If you’re a manager, the idea of summer approaching may give you fewer warm fuzzies, and more of a cold chill. With Memorial Day, the 4th of July, Labor Day, and various other reasons to get out of dodge during the summer months, employees tend to be very particular about their vacation time. How can you plan for the onslaught of vacation requests, without letting it ruin your summer glow? Business Management Daily recently summarized the results from The HR Specialist asking simply, “What’s the best way to schedule vacations without employees complaining?” Here are a few of our favorites, with some added tips to make your summer easier:
- Require advance notice. Avoid unwelcome surprises, and give your employees a firm amount of notice required to request time off. With When I Work, you will receive a notification immediately when an employee requests time off, so you can see if the required notice was given, and approve or reject it on-the-spot.
- Ask your employees for help. Discuss the summer vacation situation with them openly, and discuss how many staff members can be off on any given day. Make time-off scheduling even easier by giving your employees the opportunity to provide their availability to you on their own time.
- First-come, first-served. To keep things fair, allow vacation on a first-come, first-served basis whenever possible. With When I Work, the people with time-off will show up on the schedule, so desperate vacation seekers can reach out to those who have the day(s) off, and keep you out of it…apart from allowing you to simply approve the swap with the push of a button.
Don’t let your summer be spent shuffling schedules and calling for replacements. Heed the advice above, try out our incredibly easy employee scheduling software for a 30-day stint, then put your summer scheduling troubles behind.
