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3 ways to maintain productivity throughout the summer

Travis O'Rourke President, Hays, Canada

Madoka Matsumoto
Published Date1 Year Ago
 

Are your team members and colleagues taking time off this summer? It falls to managers and human resources leaders to make sure their teams and organisations run smoothly during peak vacation months.

You can avoid project delays and deadline extensions during the summer period with the right policies, strategic temporary staff, and forward planning.

1. Create and maintain good vacation policies

A good vacation policy will ensure that employees give enough notice, do not book holidays that overlap with those of other colleagues, and fully understand their rights and obligations. Make sure front line managers and team leads have a strong understanding of why the policies are in place, and know how to manage their teams to still meet their objectives. It’s the managers’ duty to then disperse this information to their team members, ensuring that everyone is aware of their rights and responsibilities.

These policies are important because they set the minimum standard that allows your business enough time and staff to continue operations. Without clear and transparent policies in place you put your business at risk of confusion and chaos.

2. USE TEMPORARY STAFF TO BOOST YOUR WORKFORCE PRODUCTIVITY

Temporary workers are a flexible and convenient way of bringing skilled and experienced professionals into your company. From specialized workers to support projects, to administrative and HR professionals who can reduce the administrative burden, temporary staffing options are a cost-effective way to boost your workforce during the summer months. And if you’ll be increasing headcount in the autumn, temp-to-perm hiring offers a risk-free opportunity to trial potential team members.

Make sure that your business is correctly structured in order to easily receive interims during this period. A sound on-boarding strategy which makes the process as comprehensive and painless as possible is required for you to fully benefit from temporary workers.

3. Create individual plans for vacation cover

Vacation is vital for all employees so they can return refreshed, reducing the risks of stress leave and burn out. According to our CEO, Alistair Cox “Taking a well-earned respite is a key ingredient to nurturing versatile and productive teams”. However, your company still needs to operate seamlessly while everyone takes these much-deserved breaks.

Create a standard template for employees and team leads to individually manage their time off. Have them list their top priorities, which tasks are most time-sensitive, who is responsible for those tasks while they are away and what the employee needs to do before they leave to ensure their colleagues are prepared. If an employee doesn’t want their holiday interrupted by requests and queries from puzzled colleagues then it is essential that they tie up any loose-ends before taking their break.

A final thought

 

It’s important that all of your employees enjoy a healthy work-life balance; however it’s equally important that they’re not doing so at the detriment of anyone else or the business itself.

Ensuring that you have a thorough strategy in place to deal with the temporary absence of your staff is crucial to the continued success of your business.

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AUTHOR

Travis O’Rourke joined Hays 9 years ago after holding various leadership roles elsewhere in the Canadian staffing industry. Travis setup and established Hays’ outsourced talent solutions business and played an integral role in building Hays’ temporary and contract divisions throughout Canada. Initially joining Hays with a deep background in Technology, he holds extensive cross functional knowledge to provide clients with talent solutions in Financial Services, Energy, Mining, Manufacturing, Retail, and the Public Sector.

Travis is the Toronto President of ACSESS (Association of Canadian Search, Employment, & Staffing Services) and sits on the board of directors for the National Association of Canadian Consulting Businesses (NACCB). He has been featured in segments with CBC On the Money, BNN The Open, CTV National and other news outlets. Like Hays, Travis is also passionate about corporate social responsibility and is an avid supporter for Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto.

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