Outrank.com

I know this sounds insane: allowing employees to dictate when they will be taking paid-time-off, with no official limit. How can this possibly work?

Surprisingly, it does in most cases, and the idea’s popularity is growing fast.

Eliminating the company vacation policy based solely on trust allows for employees to feel, well, trusted. When you show your employees a certain level of respect and trust, it helps them feel better connected to the company.  Additionally, the lack of a vacation policy could be a great way to attract new talent and reduce turnover by promoting employee freedom.

The lack of a vacation policy has been successful in companies like IT consulting start-up BlueWolf, which sees the decision as a competitive advantage.  The company has not seen employees abusing the system, and most take three to four weeks of vacation per year – considered average by most standards.  According to the CEO, Michael Kirven, employees know that taking an excessive amount of vacation will negatively affect their job performance, so they are personally empowered to keep vacation time at a reasonable level.

While this system sounds appealing, it won’t work for every business. Obviously, it would be disastrous for service-oriented companies like retail stores or restaurants that rely on precisely structured schedules to run properly. In the end, knowing your staff’s level of work ethic is important when deciding whether or not this policy is right for your company. It can work if your employees are productive and responsible. The key is to set up clear expectations for job performance and then let your employees decide how to budget their own time.