Unlimited leave - would you trust yourself?
degsyhufc
Posts: 59,251 Forum Member
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29356627
Would you trust yourself with that assumption. Or if you got a deal on a holiday would you feel it was too good to pass up and take time off?
Would you feel guilty?
The boss of Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson, is offering his personal staff as much holiday as they want.
On his website, he said that his staff of 170 could "take off whenever they want for as long as they want".
He added that there was no need to ask for approval, nor say when they planned to return, the assumption being that the absence would not damage the firm.
Mr Branson said he was inspired by his daughter, who read about a similar plan at the online TV firm Netflix.
"It is left to the employee alone to decide if and when he or she feels like taking a few hours, a day, a week or a month off," wrote the billionaire.
"The assumption being that they are only going to do it when they feel 100% comfortable that they and their team are up to date on every project and that their absence will not in any way damage the business - or, for that matter, their careers!"
Would you trust yourself with that assumption. Or if you got a deal on a holiday would you feel it was too good to pass up and take time off?
Would you feel guilty?
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Comments
Obviously I suspect there'll be some behind the scenes sanctions that the press won't be privy to if too much is taken, but on the whole I do think it'll work.
My point is that it's easy for a boss to appear lax or disinterested about leave/hours IF they have set clear targets. It might be that the targets are really tough and require you working 18 hours a day 7 days a week and the reality is that despite the apparently lax regime you're actually working your ass off.
So, if it were me, I'd be worrying about the targets/deliverables and not getting hoodwinked into thinking I'd be allowed to swan off playing golf all day and any day.
It's very important for a happy, productive workforce and that translates to satisfied customers, market-share and repeat business.
The key point of course is not doing anything detrimental to the business. Unlimited leave is not Carte Blanche to disappear for 30 or 45 days (or perhaps even 1 day) without notice.
I have worked for one company where if policies and procedures didn't work in a particular circumstance, we changed them.
We couldn't do it willy-nilly. As a proper BS/ISO accredited company we had to make Change Requests and amend the relevant policy/procedure. But if they were reasonable, they were never refused and implemented quickly (sometimes in retrospect
Common sense predominated and we and the customers were happy.
No more "Computer says NO!"
and they're probably the same people who the boss has been looking for a reason to sack them
Some of the conditions as far as I know:
1) can do what one thinks best as long as each of their assigned projects is completed on time and to their client's satisfaction.
2) can't miss or postpone their compulsory annual review/assessment meeting.
3) can't be physically absent from work more than ten consecutive days. In theory, one can come in for a day every two weeks for an entire year. As far as I know, no one so far had the guts to test this theory.
Short term (up to a year): Yes, I can trust myself.
Long term (unlimited): No. I can see myself getting so complacent that I'll be too lazy to do the proper work. As in, making excuses when I missed a deadline. I know because I did this at university.
No, because I would make certain it was only for periods when everything was smooth running and steady state. I'd also make sure I could be contacted anytime if needed, outside the first week.
I'd rather have a fixed allotment of holiday time. Then I can feel fine about actually taking that much. No justifications or pressure. You know exactly how much you're entitled to, and nobody gives you a hard time about it.
Sick leave should not be limited though, since you don't really control that. We have unlimited sick leave, but people don't usually take it unless they're deathly ill. Whereas I know some, generally lower paid, workplaces that limit it and people somehow end up taking just about exactly the amount they can take. When it's unlimited, people don't want to be seen abusing these unexpected days off if they don't have to. The fact that people don't take much sick leave is one thing that makes me wary of "unlimited" holiday leave, and how much of it people would actually use.
I would love to take two or three months out to go traveling, but I can't, not without giving up my job (which would be great, cause I'm bored there) but it's a guaranteed income.
Edit: It's great for Bransons 170 staff, but what about the rest of them?
I'm quite jealous of those jobs where taking time off literally means the work somehow gets done by someone else rather than piles up. You could go on holiday in complete peace without worrying about the rate at which your inbox in growing every hour.
Unfortuantely apparently that's not allowed
Yep. Had one like that at Loughborough Uni for 25 years. Now we have fixed hours, timesheets and targets, huge amounts of nitpicking micromanagement - mimicing private industry... badly.
Productivity and morale through the floor, and everyone clocks off to rule (Especially ironic as c21 students are real nightowls, the campus doesn't liven up until 8, and by that time staff have long gone).
Beardy knows what he's doing, it's called collegiality, and we (Universities) have flushed it down the crapper.
That would only leave him with a 1-figure salary!
<goes back to do maths GCSE>
Ah the reason for his dirty trains not turning up is now know.
What if everyone decide to go away at the same time? Guess he has not thought this through.
Just to be clear, this is his *own* staff at Virgin Group, which is a brand management company, NOT his franchises such as Virgin Trains, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Money, Virgin Media etc.
Ive always fancied a job where you have work that needs to be done and then you can go home. I would be the kind of person who would get a move on and get it all done so i could leave off early so i imagine this kind of scenario would be the same. You could work hard to get ahead so have the chance of taking a few weeks off and not falling behind.
Thats all hypothetical. If i really had the chance and got paid for not being there i doubt i would last long.
So one rule for his chosen few and different rules for the rest.
He needs to improve the punctuality, staff and their attitudes at his train and airline before thinking up silly shit.