Who wouldn’t want unlimited holiday?
At esynergy, unlimited holiday means exactly that- as many free days as you want 
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Day in and out we focus on delivering and demonstrating value and impact with our clients. Measuring the outcome and not just the journey if you will. The unlimited holiday policy helps us realise the same notion for our employees.
Dolly Parton’s 9-5 is no longer the normal working day and especially not in post-pandemic times. Both we and our communities require flexibility at times, and we want to provide just that with the least amount of friction possible.
If you search online for ‘unlimited holiday,’ you will find an overwhelming number of bad reviews. In this blog post, I will address the most common concern and the benefits of having a ‘no policy’ policy.
Many think that with an unlimited holiday policy, employees will take less days off than a standard holiday policy. We have taken countermeasures to prevent this:
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Lead from the top:
Teams look to leadership to guide what is deemed as acceptable behaviour. As a leader you can use your actions to bridge the gap between the business ideals and how your employees behave. It’s not just about what you say but what you do. So, be a role model, take holiday, and encourage others to do the same.
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Have clear guidelines:
Your team are not mind readers. You need to visibly talk about what is acceptable and appropriate behaviour, and this will be different for every department. If there are only two of you in a team, then it may not be advisable to take time off at the same time, if your accounting period ends in January, it could cause the rest of the accounting team stress if the team is understaffed that month, and if taking month-long holidays with little notice will cause your team problems then communicate it.
If done right, there shouldn’t be any disadvantages to having an unlimited holiday policy. There are many benefits, some of which I’ve outlined below:
Wellbeing:
We hear the word ‘culture’ thrown around and what better way to improve your culture than to create a trusting environment where teams can manage their own work/life balance.
Gone are the days of worrying about leaving work early for an emergency, not being able to go to your best friend’s wedding as you’ve run out of holiday or even taking that Friday off work for a last-minute city break!
Productivity:
When we are stressed or exhausted, we are no longer productive. We’ve all been there! So, allowing your teams to take the time off to refocus their goals and output is a far better way to improve productivity than asking your teams to stay in the office later.
Creativity and innovation:
According to the Office for National Statistics, around 1.5 million (7.4%) of jobs in England are at high risk of being automated in the future. In an increasing world of robots, computer programs, and algorithms, human kryptonite is our ability to be creative and innovative.
By introducing unlimited holiday policies, you are providing your teams with the mental bandwidth and opportunity to be creative and think innovatively.
We rarely have our best ideas at the desk. They can come from anywhere; in the shower, on a beach in Bali, or even walking the dog. Sometimes we just need time to see our work in a different light and our problems with a fresh pair of eyes.
Recruitment and retention:
We are currently in a war for tech talent with 94% of tech employers believing there is an industry-wide skills shortage (CW Jobs). As a result, this is leaving organisations with long periods of unfilled vacancies.
Having an unlimited holiday policy is a benefit that will help you to attract talent, improve employee satisfaction and encourage your teams to stay by having a work-life balance that suits their needs.
We have implemented unlimited holidays 9 months ago and I’ve collected a few quotes from my colleagues around what the policy means to them.
“Going through a house move can be time-consuming and I’ve never been more grateful for unlimited holidays! esynergy has made it really easy for me to balance work with the move and all the weddings I need to take time off for this year. It works because of the culture of trust we’ve worked so hard to build.”- Nia Batten, Client Principle
“I think that having unlimited paid holidays is one of the best benefits I have ever had and there are so many reasons why:
1. Once I have used up all my holidays (which is usually pretty quickly) I actually get to use more and not restrict myself to how many holidays/breaks I can have…
2. For esynergy to give me that trust that makes me want to always do a great job to show my gratitude!
3. Those days where i’m not sick, but I could really do with a break for my own mental wellbeing, it makes all the difference.
Those reasons makes me so much happier and gives me so much more work/life balance.”– Shannon Heffernan, Senior Talent Executive
“Unlimited Holiday gives us freedom. I no longer need to worry about whether something is worth using a holiday day on. Or hording holiday days in reserve in case of an emergency. I am much more relaxed because I know I can manage my home and personal life around work. I know I will always have the freedom to take the time I need.”– Paula Kelly, Head of Contracts and Compliance
“esynergy’s unlimited holiday is an amazing benefit which has allowed me to focus time on the house as there is a lot of work that needs to be done as well as taking time to spend with my family. It’s a great benefit to have and wouldn’t be possible without the amazing staff we have who are dedicated to their work and are very trustworthy.”– Sean Clark, Salesforce Administrator