Rosemary O’Neill’s employees weren’t sure whether to believe her when she announced a change in vacation policy early this year.
“When I said, ‘Unlimited paid leave, no strings attached,’ there was a moment of, ‘Are you punking us? Is this a joke?’ ” O’Neill says.
It was not a joke. O’Neill and her husband, Ted, own Social Strata, a small social media outfit in Seattle. Their business has joined a tiny but growing group: For the first time this year, 1 percent of U.S. businesses say they offer unlimited paid vacation.
For the O’Neills, the change started with an effort to help an employee in crisis. Their financial officer was struggling to care for a badly injured husband while also keeping up with her work. The O’Neills talked about letting her take off whatever time she needed. After all, she was a hard worker, and they trusted her. Then, they realized that was the case with all of their 10 employees.
“My husband said, ‘Well, why don’t we just do it for everybody!’ ”
I caught this one in the car this week–remarkable, especially in the current climate.
It must be a plot by iranian/Russian/North Korean/Somanlian pirate spys to undo our economy — I mean, to undo it more.
One wonders if there is a way to make it work such that hourly wage employees would have the same loyalty and productivity gains. One also wonders if the policy will be around in 4 or 5 years (or if the company will). Netflix hasn’t done badly, though….
#2 I think very highly of the NFLX Ceo Reed Hastings–you get the sense that they trust their employees.
Kendall – yes, there is that sense; and I really like the idea of this policy. However, the radio segment indicated that in the US this kind of opportunity is only available for those who are salaried, “white collar” workers. It indicated this option isn’t available anywhere for “blue collar” hourly wage jobs. There is a Netflix shipping facility in my town (though I don’t know anyone who works there). I’d be curious to know if the guys/gals who do the labor have this option; the radio piece made it sound as if they don’t.
I wish FSU would offer this.