A CEO who pays his employees $2,000 per year to go on vacation has revealed that productivity levels have soared since he implemented the practice. Mark Douglas, the CEO of marketing and advertising company SteelHouse, said that he realized a long time ago that the happier employees are, the more likely they are to be good at their jobs, hence the paid vacation.
- Having time off doesn’t necessarily mean employees can go on vacation. Sure, your job might come with a few weeks off, but sitting in your living room isn’t really making the most of things, hence the reason Douglas has offered a cash incentive. “I actually want you to go somewhere and enjoy yourself,” he told Business Insider.
- Financing vacation means people can make the most of their time off. “It’s one thing to say, ‘You have three weeks vacation,’ like most companies do,” Douglas explained. “It’s another thing to say, ‘You have cash, and if you don’t go on vacation and spend this money, the money literally goes to waste.’ It’s another level of saying this is real.” I have to be honest, Douglas sounds like a pretty awesome boss!
- Employees don’t even have to upfront the cash if they don’t want to or can’t. While employees at SteelHouse are welcome to book their own vacations and then be reimbursed by the company, Douglas also allows them to use the company credit card to book airfares and hotels if they can’t upfront the cash.
- Needless to say, the company doesn’t have very high turnover. According to Douglas, only three out of SteelHouse’s 250 employees have left for work-related reasons in the last three years, and one other left for non-work-related reasons. That’s pretty high job retention, if you ask me. Looks like everyone’s pretty happy where they are.
- Even before the $2,000 payment, vacation was pretty generous. Since the company was established in 2010, SteelHouse offered employees unlimited vacation time. However, many didn’t utilize it as they were afraid of repercussions from bosses and peers. That’s when Douglas thought of the $2,000 vacation incentive, and it’s worked incredibly well.
