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I'm sorry but we have too many vacations and it's hurting business. Very often we can't reach a person because he's off and the proxy has no clue. This is very

I'm sorry but we have too many vacations and it's hurting business. Very often we can't reach a person because he's off and the proxy has no clue. This is very true at big corp. We wasted a lot of time that way. Employees may have trouble to take all their vacations (around 32 days a year + holidays) and this increases costs greatly, because sorry, but it's always more efficient to keep the head count as low as possible. Last but not least, this affected salaries negatively. What we were forced to give as vacations we didn't give as salary (although we try to be as generous as possible). edit: It seems unclear when I talk about "we can't reach a person" that I'm talking about our customers/vendors who have people sometimes away for a whole month (generally May).

harrytuttle 13y ago
Your business is being hurt because it is mismanaged, not because there are people taking too many vacations.
coldtea 13y ago
>I'm sorry but we have too many vacations and it's hurting business. Very often we can't reach a person because he's off and the proxy has no clue. This is very true at big corp. We wasted a lot of time that way. If you have that problem, then your management and the way the company is run is BS. It's not about persons not being there a mere few hours less per week.
- shin_lao 13y ago
  You should re-read my comment. I'm talking about our customers who have this problem, resulting in us having the problem because we can't get the right person. The problem is not being there few hours less per week but being in vacations a lot. For example the whole month of May is a pure write off every year. Your theory about my management being disorganized is very naive. Have you ever run a company? However well organized you might be at some point you have to interface with the outside world which is pure chaos.
  - king_jester 13y ago
    So what? People have a right to take a vacation and not be available all the time for business/work. Your company should be bending to the needs of individual workers, not the other way around.
  - coldtea 13y ago
    >You should re-read my comment. I'm talking about our customers who have this problem, resulting in us having the problem because we can't get the right person. What's there to re-read? What I said is you shouldn't build your business so that a customer issue depends on ONE person. It's not about the persons "being in vacations a lot" problem (also: define a lot), and it's not about the customer having an issue. It's about your company being structured that way that a guy missing can result in nobody else being able to fill in for him.
fab13n 13y ago
> [Inefficiencies] This is very true at big corp. Among inefficiencies in a big corp., vacation times are a _very_ secondary issue. For instance, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that you're spending more than 5% of your work time goofing on Internet, including commenting on Hacker News. 5% is what RTT typically represent (~10 days a year out of 200). Then there's poor management, poor execution, poor motivation, lack of vision... If you can't get reach anyone, it's a matter of poor planning and poor skills redundancy, not a matter with the amount of vacations. > Last but not least, this affected salaries negatively. Most people would derive more marginal gain, in terms of happiness, from extra time than from extra money. Would you want to become Warren Buffet, with his wealth and his age? Probably not, because he's so much poorer in time (life expectancy) than you that no amount of money can make up for it.
- yummyfajitas 13y ago
  Then there's poor management, poor execution, poor motivation, lack of vision... If you can't get reach anyone, it's a matter of poor planning and poor skills redundancy, not a matter with the amount of vacations. Or maybe your company just isn't big enough to have 2 people capable of doing every single task. As for your "only 5% of time" theory, you miss the point. It's not just 5% of time, it's delays. If I'm spending 5% of my day on /r/aww and someone comes to my desk needing something for their project, they get what they need. If I'm spending 5% of my days gone, they are spending 5% of their time waiting for me.
  - king_jester 13y ago
    > Or maybe your company just isn't big enough to have 2 people capable of doing every single task. And how exactly is that any individual employees problem? Companies employ management structures supposedly to handle this kind of situation, so that a company can't is their own fault. Further, individual employees ability to take vacation time and to be away from the company is more important than the company's business needs.
  - eli_gottlieb 13y ago
    I would have to ask why your company actually needs someone at that desk 24/7.
powatom 13y ago
> Very often we can't reach a person because he's off and the proxy has no clue. This is your own damn fault. Fix your business.
- shin_lao 13y ago
  I'm not talking about my business... Please re-read.
  - powatom 13y ago
    Regardless - the point still stands: it is a failure of the business if it cannot handle employees taking vacations or being absent for whatever reason. This is not the fault of the absent employee.
eloisant 13y ago
> Very often we can't reach a person because he's off and the proxy has no clue. That's a really bad argument. If the proxy has no clue, that means your company depends on individuals, and is screwed if one quits or gets hit by a bus? You have more to worry about than the amount of vacation. I've actually seen the contrary, forced vacation being beneficial to the company because it forces a bottleneck individual to ensure his projects and the company can still run without him.

harrytuttle 13y ago

Your business is being hurt because it is mismanaged, not because there are people taking too many vacations.

coldtea 13y ago

>I'm sorry but we have too many vacations and it's hurting business. Very often we can't reach a person because he's off and the proxy has no clue. This is very true at big corp. We wasted a lot of time that way. If you have that problem, then your management and the way the company is run is BS. It's not about persons not being there a mere few hours less per week.

shin_lao 13y ago
You should re-read my comment. I'm talking about our customers who have this problem, resulting in us having the problem because we can't get the right person. The problem is not being there few hours less per week but being in vacations a lot. For example the whole month of May is a pure write off every year. Your theory about my management being disorganized is very naive. Have you ever run a company? However well organized you might be at some point you have to interface with the outside world which is pure chaos.
- king_jester 13y ago
  So what? People have a right to take a vacation and not be available all the time for business/work. Your company should be bending to the needs of individual workers, not the other way around.
- coldtea 13y ago
  >You should re-read my comment. I'm talking about our customers who have this problem, resulting in us having the problem because we can't get the right person. What's there to re-read? What I said is you shouldn't build your business so that a customer issue depends on ONE person. It's not about the persons "being in vacations a lot" problem (also: define a lot), and it's not about the customer having an issue. It's about your company being structured that way that a guy missing can result in nobody else being able to fill in for him.

fab13n 13y ago

> [Inefficiencies] This is very true at big corp. Among inefficiencies in a big corp., vacation times are a _very_ secondary issue. For instance, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that you're spending more than 5% of your work time goofing on Internet, including commenting on Hacker News. 5% is what RTT typically represent (~10 days a year out of 200). Then there's poor management, poor execution, poor motivation, lack of vision... If you can't get reach anyone, it's a matter of poor planning and poor skills redundancy, not a matter with the amount of vacations. > Last but not least, this affected salaries negatively. Most people would derive more marginal gain, in terms of happiness, from extra time than from extra money. Would you want to become Warren Buffet, with his wealth and his age? Probably not, because he's so much poorer in time (life expectancy) than you that no amount of money can make up for it.

yummyfajitas 13y ago
Then there's poor management, poor execution, poor motivation, lack of vision... If you can't get reach anyone, it's a matter of poor planning and poor skills redundancy, not a matter with the amount of vacations. Or maybe your company just isn't big enough to have 2 people capable of doing every single task. As for your "only 5% of time" theory, you miss the point. It's not just 5% of time, it's delays. If I'm spending 5% of my day on /r/aww and someone comes to my desk needing something for their project, they get what they need. If I'm spending 5% of my days gone, they are spending 5% of their time waiting for me.
- king_jester 13y ago
  > Or maybe your company just isn't big enough to have 2 people capable of doing every single task. And how exactly is that any individual employees problem? Companies employ management structures supposedly to handle this kind of situation, so that a company can't is their own fault. Further, individual employees ability to take vacation time and to be away from the company is more important than the company's business needs.
- eli_gottlieb 13y ago
  I would have to ask why your company actually needs someone at that desk 24/7.

powatom 13y ago

> Very often we can't reach a person because he's off and the proxy has no clue. This is your own damn fault. Fix your business.

shin_lao 13y ago
I'm not talking about my business... Please re-read.
- powatom 13y ago
  Regardless - the point still stands: it is a failure of the business if it cannot handle employees taking vacations or being absent for whatever reason. This is not the fault of the absent employee.

eloisant 13y ago

> Very often we can't reach a person because he's off and the proxy has no clue. That's a really bad argument. If the proxy has no clue, that means your company depends on individuals, and is screwed if one quits or gets hit by a bus? You have more to worry about than the amount of vacation. I've actually seen the contrary, forced vacation being beneficial to the company because it forces a bottleneck individual to ensure his projects and the company can still run without him.