Even before the recent pandemic kept many people confined to their homes, Americans were leaving vacation time on the table. In 2019, 768 million vacation days went unused, a record at the time. In total, these unused vacation days represent $65.5 billion in earned, but unrealized benefits.
Of course, those numbers soared during the pandemic. It's estimated that only 27% of Americans have taken leave since the pandemic began, while more than one-third haven't taken a vacation in more than two years.
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Now, unprecedented levels of stress, burnout, and exhaustion have employees ready to take time off. More than half of Americans are scheduling vacations this summer. That’s why, as businesses prepare for a post-pandemic surge, they will need to balance employees' earned and much-needed time away with operational priorities.
Therefore, now is the right time to reevaluate leave management policies and procedures. For HR leaders charged with navigating these critical priorities, here are five leave management best practices that they should adopt today.
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Make a plan
Pre-pandemic leave management strategies or ad-hoc reactionary policies will not create thriving organizations. Instead, companies need a plan that adequately meets the moment, which will benefit both employers and employees.
For business, operational continuity is a critical priority and inadequate staffing can undercut surging sales opportunities, upending employee morale and long-term well-being in the process.
At the same time, employees earned this time off and it's needed. Rested workers are more productive and effective, while overworked or exhausted employees are a drag on the company and the economy, collectively costing businesses $224 billion each year.
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Notably, HR departments shouldn’t pass this responsibility to managers or group leaders. Having a plan in place relieves managers of the odious responsibility of real-time decisions on leave approval.
Simply put, nobody benefits when leave is undermanaged, so make a plan to succeed.
Be flexible
Effective policy decisions will improve leave management, but these directives need the flexibility to accommodate one-off situations and unique pandemic requirements.
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For example, millions of people missed their vacations last year, so implementing flexible solutions that allow employees to roll over unused time can keep teams refreshed. Similarly, even as many people plan vacations, new pandemic restrictions or unforeseen circumstances could circumvent those plans. Be sure that there are policies in place to govern unique scenarios.
Companies should be flexible as possible, ensuring that employees get the time off they need and deserve without implementing unsustainable policy decisions.
Communicate changes
HR leaders need to consider the best way to communicate policy changes so that impacted parties understand policies, viewing them as fair, reasonable and necessary.
At a time when employee morale is exceptionally low, HR leaders should guarantee that leave management is an informed process, providing opportunities for teams to express concerns, ask questions, and receive critical insights. Consider launching a help desk so employees have a single contact point for ongoing Q&A and conflict resolution scenarios.
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Since employee morale can directly impact customer satisfaction, leaders have a bottom-line imperative to execute this process effectively.
Rely on automation
Leave automation software isn't a new service category, but side deals and one-off person-to-person arrangements are still common. Especially in a hybrid work environment, HR departments need to ensure that everyone has equal access to leave requests and approvals, underscoring the centrality of a digitized, automated, and accessible leave management platform.
To support this process, HR departments should also require supervisors to get approval for special actions, reducing the incentives to allow exceptions that can complicate leave management practices for the entire company.
For HR departments, the benefits of an automated system are multifaceted, including:
- allowing employees to easily request paid time off
- streamlining approvals based on scheduling or other operational constraints
- providing employees with real-time access to account balances, authorizations, denials, and other related information.
Evaluate systems regularly
Today's leave management practices may not be suitable for tomorrow's challenges. That's why HR departments need to regularly assess their systems, evaluating the efficacy amidst a rapidly changing business environment.
Schedule an annual review process where HR teams can assess concerns, develop new solutions, and ensure that leave management is always an effective part of a business’s operations.
After a uniquely challenging year, everyone needs some time away. This doesn’t have to undermine business growth or opportunity. Rather, the right amount of intentionality can deliver better results for employers and employees.
