Read Changing the Vacation Policy: Creating an Announcement at APECT Consulting (see attached file).
Rewrite the message to improve its tone and more adequately announce the changes. Make sure to briefly mention the rationale for the changes and explain the impacts on employees.
Changing the Vacation Policy
Creating an Announcement at APECT Consulting
Topics
•
•
•
Routine Announcements
Writing Style
Navigational Design
Reference
•
•
Chapter 6
“Creating Announcements” in Chapter 9
Who’s Involved
•
Ruth Weinstein, president
The Situation
Ruth Weinstein had worked at APECT Consulting for the past 18 years. Shortly after becoming president
several years ago, she recognized that turnover was quite high. The average consultant at the firm left
after five to six years of employment. In exit interviews, departing consultants consistently talked about
“being burned out” or “needing an extended break.” Most of these departing employees still had
months of unused paid vacation leave, which consistently prompted Ruth to ask, “Why didn’t you use
your vacation time?” Consultants often said they felt a pressure avoid vacation, especially if they were
early-career professionals trying to prove themselves. Some consultants said they thought they’d lose
certain client accounts if they took time off.
After several years of concerns about employees overworking, Ruth decided to learn more about how
vacation time might affect the business. She started examining research about vacation time. She read a
2013 study jointly conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management and the U.S. Travel
Association.1 The study showed that human resources (HR) professionals overwhelmingly thought
vacation affected job performance (94%), morale (92%), wellness (92%), a positive culture (90%),
productivity (90%), and retention (88%). Strong majorities of human resources professionals also
thought vacation time impacted creativity (70%), employee engagement (68%), staying with the
organization longer (60%), and taking fewer sick days (58%).
The current policy allows APECT employees to take paid time off (PTO) based on years of employment: 5
vacation days for employees with fewer than 3 years of employment; 10 vacation days for employees
with between 3 and 5 years of employment; 15 days for employees with between 5 and 10 years of
employment; and 20 days for employees with over 10 years of employment.
As Ruth talked to her human resources team, she was told how the current roll-over policy did not
provide an incentive to take vacation days during any given year. Since employees could simply roll over
their vacation days at the year’s end, they could accumulate large numbers of vacation days. The human
resources team told Ruth that the average consultant had accumulated 23 days of PTO. Furthermore,
when consultants left the firm, they received cash payouts for unused PTO. With an average payout at
© 2021 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in
any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
approximately $330 per accumulated PTO day, most consultants did not feel motivated to use all their
vacation time.
After talking to the human resources team for roughly three months, examining vacation plan policies at
competing firms, and informally talking to about a dozen consultants at the firm, Ruth and the HR team
developed a new vacation policy. Beginning on January 1, 2016, employees with fewer than 10 years of
employment at the firm will receive 15 days of vacation per year, and employees with more than 10
years of employment will receive 20 days of vacation per year. The amount of roll-over and cash payouts
will be dramatically reduced. Employees can only roll over a maximum of 5 days per year and cannot
accumulate more than 25 total days of vacation. Employees will no longer gain cash pay-outs from
unused PTO days after January 1, 2016. On January 1, 2016, the firm will give employees cash pay-outs
for all accumulated PTO vacation days.
Ruth anticipated that most employees would welcome the new policy with its focus on fostering a
better work-life balance and improving employee satisfaction. Yet, she also expected some employees
would be disappointed they could no longer build up cash pay-outs. She planned several town hall
meetings on November 2 and November 11 to talk directly with the employees about the new policy.
She felt she could address any concerns at these meetings. Ruth drafted the message below bout the
new policy to send to employees.
SUBJECT: Mandatory Vacation Policy Effective January 1
As I hold exit interviews with departing consultants, I’ve been troubled by how many of our employees
have failed to take all of their vacation time. Our average consultant has 33 days of accumulated PTO.
While I understand many of the pressures many of you feel to stay working and keep commitments to our
clients, this amount of unused vacation time is unacceptable. Research unconvincingly shows that
employees who use more vacation time are happier and more productive at work.
I have been reviewing this matter with the HR team for months. I have come to the firm conclusion that
our firm needs a change in policy that incentivizes you employees to take time off so that you are more
productive when you’re here in the workplace.
Beginning on January 1, 2016, employees with fewer than 10 years of employment at the firm will receive
15 days of vacation per year, and employees with more than 10 years of employment will receive 20 days
of vacation per year. The amount of roll-over and cash payouts will be dramatically reduced. Employees
can only roll over a maximum of 5 days per year and cannot accumulate more than 30 total days of
vacation. Employees will no longer gain cash pay-outs from unused PTO days after January 1, 2016. On
January 1, 2016, the firm will give employees cash pay-outs for all accumulated PTO vacation days. I will
hold town hall meetings on November 2 and November 11 to tell you about the changes in more detail
and explain how they help you out.
Ruth
Task
Rewrite the message to improve its tone and more adequately make an announce the changes. Make
sure to briefly mention the rationale for the changes and explain the impacts on employees.
© 2021 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in
any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.