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FROM THE FOUNDER
Vacation time?
W e are in that time of the year now when everyone starts taking their family (or other) summer vacations. Most companies in this business seem to let their employees decide when they will be gone or not. There is very little thought put into these requests and securing formal approval from supervisors seems to almost be a vestige of the past. Leaders should set clear expectations around vacation planning, approval, and communication to avoid disruption and disengagement.
Mark Zweig
I have a few thoughts on these vacations that I wanted to share: 1. If people are going to be gone, they should at least clear it with their boss. I don’t think it is too much to expect from an employee – it’s a courtesy if nothing else. I would never just “tell” my boss I’m going to be gone for a week or two. 2. Scheduling vacations is a lot easier if people plan in advance. Is it too much to ask to at least make these requests 30-60 days before they are supposed to occur? Sometimes you cannot afford to have specific people out at the same time or nothing gets done. Like whomever answers the phone. Or whomever does the SOQs
or RFP responses. Or whomever pays the bills. Or a key PM on a job under construction. A little coordination may be necessary. 3. Is there somewhere in the company people can go to see who is out? A shared calendar? Maybe that would be helpful to those of us who send an email and request a response that we don’t get if we knew someone was out. 4. What is your policy on “out of office” emails. Personally, I despise them. The out of office assistant says “I don’t care about you” to me. I may be an old fart but I don’t think it is too much to ask for engaged, salaried professionals to look at their emails and texts a couple times a day even
See MARK ZWEIG, page 6
THE ZWEIG LETTER JUNE 16, 2025, ISSUE 1590
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