By Lindsay Bell
The last ten years or so have seen dramatic change for many industries and organizations.
Millenials want better and more flexible working environments. Competition is high for those who are digital whizzes.
And many bosses, where they can, are realizing that ‘work from home’ setups actually work, and are often more efficient when it comes to employee satisfaction and the amount of work that gets done during an average work day.
Treehouse, an online education company that teaches people about technology, even instituted a four day work week! They pay their staff the same as a five day week, and they don’t “force” them to work 10 hours per day to make up for the day lost – BUT they still have set goals and everyone works their butts off to be sure those goals and weekly work assignments get done in four days instead five.
As mentioned in the article, their CEO believes his company benefits from better output and morale. "The quality of the work, I believe, is higher," he said. "Thirty-two hours of higher quality work is better than 40 hours of lower quality work."
The No Vacation Nation
Now, there’s no question that Treehouse and their four day week is very much an anomaly. Many workers still don’t have access to proper vacation time, let alone a reduced work week.
Consider this: The U.S.A. is affectionately known around the world as the 'no vacation nation.' It's the only developed country without a federal mandate for a minimum number of vacation days. At last count, 39.7 percent of American workers had no access to holiday days. And, while my American friends sure know how to celebrate a holiday – Thanksgiving comes to mind – your great states have only 10 public holidays a year, a number below the global average.
And, as a Canadian, let me assure you we fare little better. While our somewhat socialist attitude practically guarantees paid time off, a statutory minimum of 10 paid vacation days, but with only nine public holidays – national stereotypes aside – we don't actually know how to party.
The Digital Life
As I mentioned above – the working world has changed, and mostly for the best, except for one little issue. A lot of us really never stop working!
Raise your hand if you respond to texts at nights and weekends? Answer your phone while at the park with your kids? Heck, most of you have probably done all of the above plus checked your business email account between cocktails in Mexico.
I’m heading to Mexico in three days. And I definitely won’t be checking my phone while I’m there.
I’m benefitting from a policy that my employer instituted back in 2013. Unlimited paid time off. Netflix is doing it. So are Best Buy, Evernote, and Social Strata.
What an unlimited paid time off policy policy does is threefold:
- It recognizes and respects that employees rarely stop working.
- It allows people to achieve a semblance of work/life balance.
- And, maybe the most shocking thing of all, it says to staff members "Hey, you're an adult, we trust you."
I know, right? You've just fallen off your chair and booked a six month cruise around the world! But it doesn't actually work that way.
Companies who have UPTO policies still monitor the amount of time people take off (that's a given from a business standpoint), and require notice in advance for, say, a trip abroad. But if you need a morning off, or want to leave early for an appointment or to watch your kid play soccer? Off you go!
Stress Kills
As the Treehouse people mention above, many corporations are starting to grasp the seriousness of this non-stop work world. Stress kills, and when people consistently work more than a 40 hour week, their productivity drops.
Interestingly enough, people don't tend to abuse these UPTO policies. If anything, bosses are discovering they need to go out of their way to enforce proper vacation time and ensure staffers aren't trying to play hero by being the guy who never takes time off.
In fact, my boss had to force me to take next week off. No joke.
Fact: Times have changed. It's not about clocking in and clocking out any longer. We all have day-to-day responsibilities and longer term goals that we have to hit.
What an unlimited paid time off policy says is this: Deliver on time, hit your numbers, don't screw up, let us know where you are and when you'll be in (or not), but make sure you live your life to the fullest.
A version of this post originally ran on Spin Sucks.
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