How to make sure you've got employee vacations covered

Four tips to ease the vacation gap

James McDonough //September 14, 2016//

How to make sure you've got employee vacations covered

Four tips to ease the vacation gap

James McDonough //September 14, 2016//

Employees have a love-hate relationship with planning for vacations – excitement when planning for their own trip and discomfort when providing coverage for vacationing team members. To ease the process and minimize any stress, it’s important to create a start to finish vacation transition plan. Here are four tips to ensure managers and employees effectively manage absences to create a smooth transition and post-vacation return.

Get organized and plan ahead: Effective vacation planning includes taking inventory of assignments and divvying up among employees with the flexibility to accommodate the extra work. Encourage team members to create a detailed overview of work-in-progress in an easily accessible format, such as a Google Doc, that includes major responsibilities, projects in progress, key contacts and any necessary access codes that the office might need. In addition, encourage employees to create detailed out-of-office email and voicemail messages including who to contact for different projects during their absence.

Allow for transition time after the vacation: Encourage team members to set aside at least 4 hours to transition back into the swing of things. This time can be used for catching up on emails and voicemails, reconnecting with internal colleagues and checking in with external contacts. Devoting time specifically to transitioning back to work will prevent your colleagues from being overcome by a work avalanche when they return.

Be patient and prioritize: Team members will likely have a pile of work to tackle, so it’s important to help them prioritize. After they’ve been caught up on project statuses, help them create a list of priorities where project deadlines and importance are factored in. Remind team members that they should focus their time on the must-dos, rather than the laundry list of completed and in progress items.

Ask for help: Sometimes heavy workloads and very specific responsibilities make it challenging for other team members to cover for vacationing employees. Consider tapping external resources, like contractors or temp agencies, to fill the void.Mountain States Employers Council’s HR Professional Staffing Services can send employees at all levels to help manage the workload while team members are on vacation.

Establishing a standard routine helps articulate expectations for vacationing employees and alleviates any stress or confusion for the rest of the office. Employees should have peace of mind and enjoy their vacation knowing colleagues have a solid understanding of their coverage support, while employers can rest assured that office productivity isn’t being negatively impacted.

James McDonough is the HR Research Consultant, Member Engagement at Mountain States Employers Council (MSEC). He consults with MSEC staff and members to address Human Resource issues, conducts research and analysis on a wide variety of topics. He manages MSEC Library resources and services, conducts training and presentations and writes articles and blogs on workplace topics.