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Manage Employee Time-Off Request with Customer Needs

Tristan Anwyn

September 24, 2015

Are you looking for ways to simplify your company's time-off request process?

Vacation requests can be a real minefield, leading to scheduling conflicts or departments left short staffed. This can be detrimental to your small business, affecting your ability to respond to customers and provide goods or services.

Don't despair.

With some planning ahead and the right tools you can streamline your time-off request process, leaving your employees happier and keeping your business running well.

So just how can you do that?

Have a Policy in Place

A clear time-off request policy will serve your business well.

Your policy should include:

• Clear instructions on how to request time off;
• Who to talk to about impending time off;
• Company policy in case of clashes;
• The expected notice employees need to give when asking for time off;
• Any blackout periods, when time off requests are not allowed;
• Your policy regarding getting time off booked before the end of the fiscal year.
•  

Setting everything out in black and white will help your employees to understand their rights and responsibilities.

A clear process will help prevent confusion or hiccups such as requests going to the wrong person or being submitted in the wrong format.

Streamline the Process

The easier it is to request time off, the less likely you are to end up with clashes, bottlenecks or lost information. That's why it's a good idea to do all you can to streamline the process.

As the article, "How to Simplify Your Company's Time-Off Request Process" says, workflow software can solve the problems associated with paper-based time off requests.

Workflow software means no more lost, smudged, duplicated or mislaid time off requests.

All requests get submitted to the right person, in the right format, making it much easier to collate and schedule them.

Prepare for Absences

Streamlining your process means having more notice and more time to prepare for absences, so make the most of that. The better prepared you are, the less disruption to your business.

 Before an employee goes on vacation, make sure they leave:

• A summary of work in progress;
• Instructions on how to access files and carry out tasks;
• Key contact information for the people they deal with.

Encourage vacationing employees to tie up as many loose ends as possible before leaving.

Before they leave the office, be sure you know who is going to cover their work, and that they have all the skills and knowledge needed to do that. 

Split absent employee's duties between more than one people if you can. This will have less of a negative impact on your business than if one person is left trying to do the work of two.

Identify Busy Times

Getting to know your small business' peak busy times will help when it comes to scheduling time-off requests. You might consider "blackout periods", where time-off requests aren't allowed.

If your employees are likely to want time off at peak periods, could you make use of temps or a pool of part timers?

Having a reliable backup team can make all the difference if your employees are absent when things are hectic.

Finally, why not consider pay incentives for agreeing to work through popular vacation periods?

You'll find that some of your team will be more than happy to take time off at a different time of year if you make it worth their while.

Time-off requests don't have to cause a headache.

Plan ahead and streamline the process, and you'll be able to say "yes" to requests without compromising your business.

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