Why Branson's Holiday Generosity Will Not Suit All Employers

Sir Richard Branson: abolishing holiday rules (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The old PR maestro has done it again. Sir Richard Branson, who has been successfully pulling off high-profile publicity stunts for four decades now, has just garnered another bunch of positive headlines with a new initiative aimed at some of his Virgin employees. Sir Richard trusts them so completely, he explains, that he is abolishing holiday leave - instead his staff will now be entitled to take as much holiday as they want, whenever they want, without clearing it with their managers first. What a great boss, the media is cooing.

The underlying principle here, of course, is as old as the hills - it's the sort of lesson that parents learn early on as they work out how to bring up their children. Give your kids a bit of a responsibility and there's every chance they'll bend over backwards not to abuse your trust; rule with a rod of iron, on the other hand, and they'll always be looking for a sneaky way to pull a fast one.

At Virgin, Sir Richard takes the view that his staff won't take advantage of the new system - that is, they'll only take time off when they can see doing so won't be disruptive to the business, or place an unfair burden on their colleagues.

In doing so, Sir Richard is not the first business leader to make this bet. Indeed, he is understood to have got the idea from his daughter Holly, who came across an American company that operates successfully in this way.

So is it a blueprint that entrepreneurs building the companies of tomorrow should follow? Well, possibly - as long as they recognise the potential flaws of operating a totally flexible holiday policy.

For one thing, there is a very real danger of this turning into an exploitative practice, particularly at organisations where staffing is lean. It's one thing telling your staff they're free to take time off whenever there's a quiet moment, but if the quiet moment never arrives, they'll end up taking less holiday than they do today - and resenting you for it.

Another danger is a different kind type of damage to staff morale. Most of your staff will likely repay the faith you've shown in them - but it only takes one abuser of the system to mess things up, particularly in a small company where everyone knows everyone else's business. The last thing you want is colleagues at each other's throats.

Also consider whether flexible holiday will just be the start. If you're prepared to trust your employees to police their own leave, why can't they police themselves all the time? Do you even need them to come into the office at all or can they simply be left to get on with the work that needs doing at home? If you feel comfortable with that, great, but many employers won't.

None of which to say Sir Richard's new employment policy is a bad idea, or even that he hasn't introduced it with the best of intentions (as well as with a beady eye on PR, of course). But if you're running your own company and you're thinking of copying his example, don't be deceived by the almost entirely positive press he's receiving - this isn't a completely free lunch.

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