{"id":5766,"date":"2022-06-16T21:18:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T01:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/?p=5766"},"modified":"2023-02-24T21:20:12","modified_gmt":"2023-02-25T01:20:12","slug":"unlimited-pto-isnt-flawed-we-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/2022\/06\/16\/unlimited-pto-isnt-flawed-we-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlimited PTO Isn\u2019t Flawed, We Are"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Early in my career, well before unlimited PTO entered any corporate conversations, I had an amazing opportunity to travel to Asia for three weeks. At the time I only had two weeks of vacation for the year. To make it work, I negotiated subtracting a week from the following year and missed a few family holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one should have to do that. While the idea of unlimited PTO is no longer new, it\u2019s still making headlines and some are still torn on whether it\u2019s more or less beneficial for employee satisfaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With job market competition still intensifying for employers, implementing the benefits employees want is critical. And the majority of employees want unlimited PTO: Sixty-five percent<\/a> factor the benefit into their decisions to take new jobs or leave their current role. The stakes are even higher for Gen Z (74%) and millennials (70%). At the same time, unlimited PTO has its critics. Some research shows employees are less likely to take time off under these policies. One study reports employees with unlimited vacation time take two fewer days<\/a> (13 total). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my first week as CEO at Brooks Bell, unlimited PTO was one of the first policies rolled out. Despite concerns, to me it just feels like the right thing to do. But it\u2019s not a drop and go policy and not every company is prepared to offer it. To be successful, organizations need to be self-aware and intentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s getting in the way<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s 3 p.m. You\u2019ve cranked out your work for the day. You\u2019re bored out of your mind and chained to your desk until 5 p.m. Most of us had been there at some point pre-pandemic (nevermind what this was like pre-internet). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? Most American business models have yet to figure out a better way to track productivity beyond minutes spent. Many organizations still think about employment within strenuous transactional bounds. Attaching value only to time and results ignores the importance of collaboration, efficiency, speed and customer relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As humans we need time off. The paid part should be table stakes. By measuring time off \u2014 and therefore time on \u2014 employers are boiling down individual value to hourly rates. This \u201cI pay you this, so you owe me this many hours\u201d approach disproportionately emphasizes the \u201cpaid\u201d portion of PTO. If organizations truly believe that employment isn\u2019t servitude and that the people they\u2019re paying add value, the number of minutes spent physically working shouldn\u2019t factor into employees\u2019 worth. We need to get more comfortable emphasizing the \u201cTO.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simultaneously, hustle culture is still very real. In the same way organizations equate employee value to time on, many senior level executives and managers equate their own value or their teams\u2019 value to how hard they grind. Some managers who say they value mental health and encourage their teams to take time off may be the same ones that post pictures of their laptops next to their chaise on a beach vacation \u2014 even more common now in the work-from-anywhere era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, many employees don\u2019t trust leadership to facilitate truly \u201cunlimited\u201d PTO, even if it\u2019s offered. Maybe managers will mentally or verbally ding them for taking what they\u2019ve deemed as too many days. Or maybe they won\u2019t be allowed to truly detach from work even if they\u2019re technically taking time off. Goldman Sachs, known for its intense culture, recently received flack<\/a> for their unlimited PTO roll-out. People are skeptical of how well leadership could support the policy and conscious of its incompatibility with their famed ethos. And they\u2019re not wrong. In cultures that glorify around-the-clock work, time off feels like self sabotage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Implementing unlimited PTO requires deep mindfulness from the top down. Not only do organizations need to rethink how they calculate productivity, high-impact leaders need to reevaluate their own expectations for themselves and their teams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to support the policy <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the majority of workers in favor of unlimited PTO, not to mention the obvious benefits of having fully charged employees, organizations need to get with the times and figure out how to make it successful. Here are three ways to do it: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Leading by example<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reversing hustle culture starts at the top. Leadership needs to model healthy working habits in order for their teams to trust that they\u2019ll be rewarded based on the quality of their work, not the number of hours they track. One way managers can do this is by taking time off simply to recharge, rather than for destination vacations alone. When leaders are open about self-care days and daily breaks that power their productivity and creativity, it can inspire junior employees to do the same. Leaders at Brooks Bell are open about their time off, setting their Pingboard statuses to illustrate when they\u2019re taking time to recharge, whether they\u2019re feeling burnt out or not up to working. Other employees applaud them, because openness and equal opportunity breeds a culture of celebration rather than resentment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way I try to do this for my teams is by truly being offline when taking PTO. If I\u2019m out of office, I\u2019m fully off, not checking emails or responding to messages. Sure, my team can text me for an emergency and I\u2019ll join an immovable call if need be \u2014 but otherwise, I\u2019m away. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Strengthening collaboration <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know that work still needs to get done even if people are out. If projects or tasks fall too heavily on one person, whether by design or by an individual\u2019s own nature, it can be challenging to find time to take off. Too often, we develop  an \u201conly I can do this,\u201d mentality. At the same time, others might feel guilty passing off their projects. Creating a truly collaborative environment, where multiple people are engaged throughout a project\u2019s life cycle, ensures the onus never falls on just one person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This also minimizes the dread of returning to an overflowing inbox after time off. If employees have faith their team had their back during their time off, they can resume work more easily \u2014 and better enjoy their vacation. To truly reap the benefits of time off, employees need to be confident they\u2019re not returning to a more stressful situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Mitigating burnout<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlimited PTO policies alone won\u2019t solve burnout. What will solve it is an actual embrace of balance and making mental health a priority. As companies transition to more supportive environments, some employees might require hand-holding. That doesn\u2019t mean setting a required minimum number of days off \u2014 that goes back to the time equals value mentality. But managers should flag when employees are due for a break and when workloads are keeping them from one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing the office at times can also help take the pressure off employees as they navigate the policy. We close the office for Black Friday and between Christmas and New Year\u2019s Day, for example. We also implemented biweekly Summer Fridays, shutting the office down for the day. Added benefits like these help snap teams out of the mindset that they need to ration their \u201cunlimited\u201d time or plan around days off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the companies that tout how much they care about their people, unlimited PTO is a no-brainer. If employees genuinely feel cared for as humans, they\u2019ll feel a stronger sense of belonging and be motivated to hit their goals faster. No one should need to negotiate a PTO for a once-in-a-lifetime trip \u2014 and we should all be determined to provide the support that makes it possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incorporating the policy itself is not enough, however. Leadership needs to be willing to support it and open enough to encourage teams to take advantage. In the end, they might just build trust, loyalty and camaraderie. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Early in my career, well before unlimited PTO entered any corporate conversations, I had an amazing opportunity to travel to … Continue ReadingUnlimited PTO Isn\u2019t Flawed, We Are<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_social_preview_title":"","wp_social_preview_description":"","wp_social_preview_image":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5766"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5768,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5766\/revisions\/5768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}