Summer vacation is supposed to be a care-free time away from the daily grind. But as a business leader, the warmer months often bring an influx of requests for time off, increasing your workload and stress level. Simplify scheduling employee vacations with a bit of planning and a little extra communication.
Set Clear Expectations
During the busy summer months, make sure your staff knows the deadlines for asking for time off. Encourage them to plan ahead by turning in their requests as early as possible.
If necessary, set blackout days where no one can request time off, or set a limit as to how many employees can request off for a particular day. If requests exceed this number, determine who gets time off by seniority or by whoever asked first.
Read More→
![iStock_000010714275XSmall[1]](http://www.refreshleadership.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/iStock_000010714275XSmall1-150x150.jpg "iStock_000010714275XSmall[1]")
Your financial assets are important to you, your security, and your future, so you keep a watchful eye on your investments. You carefully develop financial plans and strategies, forecast and analyze potential growth, and even enlist the help of financial experts to ensure you manage your money effectively. You manage your financial assets carefully, because you know what they’re worth. 
The world’s top business leaders weren’t born knowing how to lead their teams to success. Instead, they started out like any other manager: learning the ropes and hoping for the best. 
This January, news stories abound with the latest reports about worker satisfaction and the many professionals hoping to change jobs in 2011. Whether employees are seeking greener pastures with better benefits or are just ready for a change, companies may soon find themselves struggling to retain top talent. 
A recent survey released by the American Psychological Association (APA) reported that nearly 75% of Americans say they’re stressed out. And, among their top stress-causing concerns, 70% of respondents reported work as a big contributor, surpassed only by money with 76% of respondents worried about income, followed by 65% of respondents apprehensive about the economy. High workplace stress levels aren’t just impacting the U.S. Stress levels across Canada were up 30% in 2010, according to a recent Desjardins Financial Security National Health Survey. Experts suggest it is the biggest occupational health problem facing Canada. 
There is no such thing as a perfect leader. No matter how experienced you are, there is always something you can learn about your leadership style that will help strengthen the working relationship between you and your employees. So, even if you have a healthy rapport with your team, don’t forget to step back from time-to-time to ensure you haven’t unknowingly developed any the following bad habits.
While this year has been an improvement for many businesses over the dismal 2008 and 2009 years we’d all like to forget, economic recovery has remained slow. And, leading economists expect that growth to remain modest through 2011, a difficult forecast for many employers and their employees who’ve struggled to stay afloat under the weight of increasingly heavier workloads and high stress levels.
If you haven’t typed THX, LOL, or GTG on your phone keypad within the last 24 hours, chances are you eventually will. Every year, texting is becoming more and more popular. According to Nielsen Wire, a media research corporation, over 2.5 billion texts are sent each day in the US, and the primary use of cell phones is now to send texts, not make phone calls. In particular, the texting use of the generation that will be entering the workforce in a few years is exploding. The average American teen sends over 3,300 texts every month. 
On Wednesday, Oct. 20, ABC’s World News reported that during his presidency, Bill Clinton misplaced the launch card with the codes required to initiate a nuclear attack, according to the new memoir of former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Hugh Shelton. Shelton’s memoir calls the mislaid card, “a gargantuan deal.” And, it sounds like it is. But, while misplacing the key to authorize the use of nuclear weapons could have been disastrous, it’s usually the little things that we sometimes lose that we really have to worry about.
Recent Comments