2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44
Since 2004, Netflix employees have been taking as many days off as they want. They decide on their own when to come to work, when to take time off, how long it will take to complete tasks. And this policy did not hurt the company in the least. In contrast, since its introduction, Netflix's market value has grown to $ 51 billion.
Netflix's flexibility with its employees does not mean that they are irresponsible in their work. They must complete tasks at a high level and tell their supervisors how things are progressing. High performance is so entrenched in Netflix culture that it can be generously rewarded with any number of weekends.
Netflix employees have unlimited vacations because no one is keeping track of the time. Instead of meticulously tracking who worked and how much, leaders focus on tasks and outcomes. They concluded that by giving more freedom, they get more responsible workers. Employees are focused on solving problems and their productivity, rather than constantly adhering to a set of rules.
Why Netflix Dropped Traditional Vacation Counting
While Netflix still had its traditional vacation allocation policy, employees approached management with the question:
We do not count how much we work outside of business hours. We check emails at home, work nights and weekends. So why should we count the time we spend on vacation?
The management could not argue with such simple logic. Of course, it doesn't work for all companies. If this is a production where a person monitors the work of the conveyor, then he should be there from eight to five. And then it makes sense to pay by the hour and count the days off. But as technology advances, so many can work from anywhere, anytime. People work as long as it takes to complete the task. The concept of "processing" is being erased.
We are moving towards an economy where people are paid for results. But when it comes to estimating the amount of nonworking time, we still cling to the old rules, trying to calculate the hours that a person should spend on work and play. And it demotivates employees. Netflix understood this and changed the policy, embarking on a new understanding of work.
Brazilian experience
Netflix was the first notable American company to introduce an unlimited vacation policy, but the idea did not originate with it. The Brazilian company Semco has been offering its employees unlimited vacations for 30 years.
The son of the company founder, Ricardo Semler, suffered serious health problems at age 21 and realized his current work schedule was slowly killing him. And if he kills him, then he also kills the employees. Ricardo made a radical decision to end the restrictions on vacations, weekends and sick days at once.
Despite concerns about declining productivity, Semler found that employees were more productive and loyal to the company, they were happy, and the company was prosperous. When Semler introduced the unlimited vacation policy in 1981, Semco was valued at $ 4 million; it is now $ 1 billion.
Despite the success of the unlimited weekend policy, only 1% of American companies have adopted it. It could not be otherwise: the culture of workaholics is flourishing in the United States. Americans have the least number of days off among other countries, even fewer only in South Korea.
American companies are not even required by law to provide paid vacation. Whereas in the UK, workers are entitled to 28 days of paid leave (including national holidays). In Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Sweden - for 25 days a year, and in Brazil - for 30 days plus 11 national holidays.
How employees use the opportunity to relax whenever they want
Companies that are zealous for a limited number of days off are confident that employees will take vacations too often. But in companies with a policy of unlimited vacations, a strange thing came to light: freedom gave people a strong sense of ownership and responsibility, they felt like they were business owners and stopped taking vacations altogether!
Employers have to motivate employees to go on vacation. Evernote, for example, gives them $ 1,000 to spend on vacations, and FullContact gives them an incredible $ 7,500. True, employees are required to report that the funds were spent on recreation.
Workaholism is not healthy at all, and smart companies understand this. Employees need time to recharge, especially if they themselves sense when it is time to take a break. After resting, they come back filled with energy and fresh ideas. This means that the money invested in this was not spent by the company in vain.
It is a pity that until now, almost everywhere the work is built on the principle of a factory, where you need to work and rest for a certain number of hours. If we change our thinking about work and set the goal of getting results, then we need to change the system of rest and rewards.
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