人手不足巧安排，拯救假期有商量

????在滑雪用具制造商Epic Planks公司，大多數鐘愛戶外運動的員工今年整個夏季都將被忙碌的工作占據。他們必須呆在店里，把玻璃纖維和塑料制成定制的雪橇，而不是去休假。

????雖然這家位于密歇根州大急流城的公司剝奪了員工的雙休日野營之旅，但他們并沒有怨氣沖天，相反，他們竟然歡欣鼓舞，因為今年冬天他們將可以享受更長的假期。

????原因在于公司創始人比爾?萬魯伊和他的合作伙伴決定，對于放棄夏季休假兩周的員工，公司將把假期延長一倍。夏季是Epic Planks公司最繁忙的季節，因為公司需要生產雪橇和滑雪板，以便在秋季進行銷售。

????接受該休假方案的員工可以在冬天享受四周的長假。這一想法來源于公司去年夏天的遭遇。當時，不少員工在最后關頭申請休假，導致這家小公司陷入員工短缺的困境。為了保證產量，萬魯伊和他的合作伙伴不得不每天工作12個小時，每周工作6到7天。

????“滑雪和滑板滑雪是公司員工的最愛，雖然他們現在做出了一點點犧牲，但在以后可以獲得更豐厚的回報，”萬魯伊說?！敖衲晗奶焓俏覀兊谝淮螌嵭羞@項政策，不過反響不錯。大家都很滿意?！?/p>

????Epic Planks并不是唯一一家對夏季人員安排進行創新的公司。求職網站CareerBuilder.com的資深職業顧問邁克爾?歐文稱，許多公司要求員工制定自己的休假計劃，并要休假員工提前提交備忘錄，以避免不必要的意外。而且，他們也會進行崗位輪換培訓，這樣，在員工休假時可以由其他同事替補，此外，他們還會在必要時聘用臨時工。

????這些公司的努力表明，與往年相比，許多公司的人手并不充足，但盡管如此，他們仍然認識到員工休假的重要性。

????歐文表示：“根本目的還是為了保證生產效率。如果員工筋疲力盡，公司的生產效率和員工的創造力都會下降。所以，雇主有義務告訴員工：‘你得騰出點時間去辦公室外面走走?！?/p>

????位于美國弗吉尼亞州夏洛茨維爾市的水印設計（Watermark Design）公司主要從事網頁設計與廣告代理，這家公司的老板達西?沃琳?萊西就是這么做的。她定期問員工是否安排好了自己的休假計劃，直到員工承諾至少會在雙休日休假。

????沃琳?萊西說：“我要求員工必須休假。干我們這一行的，如果不休假，一定會身心俱疲?！?/p>

????5月份，她甚至聘用了一位初級設計師，來應對夏季工作量的預期增長。她解釋說：“對于我們來說，針對每一個項目培訓一名自由職業者太過浪費時間，不如找一名熟悉客戶的專職員工?！?/p>

????實際情況確實如此，CareerBuilder.com的調查發現，今年夏天，約有五分之一的雇主有招聘計劃，其中57%的工作崗位都是長期職位。

????CareerBuilder網站的歐文稱，這些公司的招聘計劃表明，在經濟衰退時期為公司拼盡全力的員工們自己也已經疲憊不堪，現在是時候增加人手了。他表示：“公司紛紛加大了招聘力度，支援過去兩年中在公司兢兢業業工作的員工?！?/p>

????倫敦商學院（London Business School）的副教授伊莎貝爾?費爾南德斯?馬特奧認為，如果公司希望聘用臨時工來頂替度假的員工，他們應該從之前否決的求職者人才庫中尋找目標。這些人通常都符合公司的要求，只是因為競爭對手技能更熟練，他們才失去了機會。

????另外一個來源是人事公司，它們可以專門為公司提供所需要的人才，因為一家優秀的代理公司能與員工保持長期的良好關系，并保證他們具備必要的技能和知識。

????費爾南德斯?馬特奧說，公司往往傾向于認為，臨時崗位只要隨便招一個人就可以了。但真這么干之前，還是需要三思?！叭绻局恍枰赣脦字艿呐R時工，他們就必須能夠馬上投入工作。公司可沒有時間對他們進行培訓?！?/p>

????（翻譯 劉進龍）

????This summer, most of the outdoorsy employees at ski manufacturer Epic Planks will be getting their hands dirty in the shop, where they compress fiberglass and plastic into custom-made skis, with nary a vacation day.

????But rather than cursing the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company for their dearth of long-weekend camping trips, they're gleefully anticipating taking extra time off in the winter.

????That's because founder Bill Wanrooy and his partner will double up to two weeks of vacation time that workers decide not to take in the summer, which is Epic Planks' busy time for building skis and snowboards to be sold in the fall.

????Those who accepted the offer will instead enjoy up to four weeks of vacation in the winter. The idea stemmed from last summer's experience, when last-minute vacation requests left the small business so short-staffed that Wanrooy and his co-founder had to work 12-hour days, 6 or 7 days a week, to keep up with production demand.

????"For all of our employees, skiing and snowboarding is their passion, so that allows them to maybe sacrifice a little bit now, but the rewards pay off later," says Wanrooy. "This is our first summer of doing it, but the reception has been great. Everybody loves it."

????Epic Planks isn't the only company getting creative with summer staffing. Companies are asking employees to plan their own vacation coverage, requesting that vacationers send out memos to avoid any unwanted surprises, says Michael Erwin, senior career adviser for CareerBuilder.com. They're also cross-training employees to cover for their colleagues during time off, and bringing in temporary staff when needed.

????These companies' efforts point to the fact that while many companies are not staffed as heavily as they have been in previous years, they nevertheless recognize the importance of vacation time.

????"It comes back to productivity," Erwin says. "If your people are burned out, you're going to have less productive, less creative people. It's the responsibility of employers to say, 'You need to take time out of the office.'"

????That's exactly what owner Darcey Ohlin-Lacy does with her employees at Watermark Design, a web design and ad agency in Charlottesville, Va. She regularly asks staffers they've scheduled their vacations until she gets a commitment from them for at least a long weekend.

????"I ask that they take vacations," says Ohlin-Lacy. "In our business, if you don't take vacations, you do burn out."

????She even hired a junior designer in May to cover an anticipated uptick in workload for the summer. "For us to train a freelancer on each project is way more time-consuming than to just have someone who knows the brands we're working with," she explains.

????Indeed, a CareerBuilder.com survey found that one in five employers plan to hire this summer, and 57% of those open positions will be permanent.

????The hiring plans are recognition that that staff members who have weathered the recession have themselves grown weathered and that it's time to beef up the ranks, says CareerBuilder's Erwin. "Companies are starting to hire more and bring on people who can support the people who have been doing the work for the last two years," he says.

????Companies that want to take on temporary staff to cover for employees on vacation ought to take a second look at the pool of job candidates they've previously rejected, argues Isabel Fernandez-Mateo, an associate professor at London Business School. Often, those individuals are qualified but lost the position to someone even more skilled.

????Another likely source is a staffing firm that specializes in employees with the skills you need, since good agencies will have long-term relationships with employees and can ensure they have the necessary technical skills and knowledge.

????It's often tempting to think that you can just get anyone for a position that's temporary, says Fernandez-Mateo. But it's best to think twice before taking that approach. "If you're hiring them for only a few weeks, they need to hit the ground running. You cannot train them."