Richard Branson may well be vying for the title “best boss in the world.”
Apparently he is encouraging a change in practice amongst his staff and allowing them to take as much time off as the like.
As long as they are up to date with their work, if they want a five week holiday then off they go.
This move apparently is to boost morale, creativity and productivity.
He has certainly stimulated a debate in our office. At one point I thought I was actually going to be the only one working here!
Is it something that we seriously ought to consider?
Well there is no doubt when one of the world’s great business leaders thinks it might be beneficial to do something like this the rest of us need take note.
But in a small business where the employment dynamics are very different it might not be quite so easy in practice.
In small teams the absence of one team member for even a conventional holiday period can put great pressure on the team members left behind.
Even simple tasks like dealing with telephone calls can be exacerbated by a team member’s absence.
So I guess I would cautiously welcoming suggestion for change with only one proviso.
Like all commercial enterprises we have set business goals based around our numbers; if we have achieved those numbers then there might be a business case for being a little more flexible when it comes down to leave.
