Want to take holidays whenever you feel like it?

When new entrepreneurs are trying to get their business off the ground, they are juggling so many balls in the air, that putting structured policies in place may not be the first thing on their mind.

However, when the time comes to hire their first employee, most entrepreneurs spend the time needed to put a formal contract in place – including a written holiday policy.

According to an article in Business Week, a U.S. based IT consulting firm start-up called ‘Bluewolf’ decided to go against the grain in this regard. They let their employees take as many holidays as they wanted, whenever they wanted —as long as they meet their goals.

As the new business grew and as expanded their team, the founders let staff take paid time off for holidays, travel, and rest when they wanted, without asking permission—just letting managers know as a courtesy.

The owners doubted the start-up could sustain the approach as the company expanded. They didn’t think it would scale when they reached 20/50/100 employees. However, now with a staff of 200 and $18 million in revenue in 2007 they don’t consider the loose vacation rules a risk that employees will shirk their duties.

Instead, the owners see it as a competitive advantage. They estimate most people take three to four weeks each year as six or more would usually make it hard to meet their objectives. The owners say that there’s no pressure to put in a certain number of days or hours as long as the work is getting done.

What do you think of Bluewolf’s approach to their annual leave policy? Is this something which you would consider adopting in your business?

To read more about taking a ‘goal focused’ approach to business, check out the AAB article ‘how to get the most from you and your team’ here.