Work-Life Balance -1: Create flexible leave policies.

In recent years, many organizations have changed their leave policies.

Instead of offering specific amounts of sick or vacation days, they’ve combined them into a general category called PTO (paid time off).

Creating flexible leave policies is a work-life balance initiative employee, truly value, as they don’t feel like they have to account for how they're using their time off.

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Create flexible leave policies.

It is a different way of thinking about time off—as is allowing employees to “trade” traditional holidays like Christmas for days off of their choosing. That’s the approach that music-streaming company Spotify recently rolled out in an effort to recognize the cultural and religious diversity of its more than 2,000 employees. Both policies are a far cry from the days when two weeks’ vacation and eight fixed holidays were the norm. With tough competition for talent, a shifting legislative landscape and the most diverse workforce in generations, progressive company leaders are rethinking how to keep employees happy both inside and outside the office.

In fact, last year nearly a third of organizations increased their overall benefits, which include a mix of time off, health insurance and other perks, according to the 2017 Employee Benefits research report from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). And a SHRM report on 2017 holiday schedules indicates that 30 percent of employers now offer paid floating holidays other than personal days and standard holidays. o talk about your workshop. People are looking for interesting things to do online more and more each day. Tell them how to connect, what they will learn and what to prepare.

“There’s just more openness to the fact that people need flexibility, and when they have that flexibility, they are more engaged, more productive and more likely to stay with the organization,” says Mikaela Kiner, founder and CEO of Uniquely HR, a consulting firm based in Seattle.

While there’s a generational component at play as well, that’s only part of the picture. “It does have something to do with Millennials, but I also think that all generations in the workforce are looking for more flexibility,” says Sylvia Francis, SHRM-SCP, total rewards manager for the Regional Transportation District in Denver.

After the lean years of the recession, burned-out employees of all ages are looking to strike a better balance between work and personal time. “Boomers and Xers … want to travel or spend more time with grandkids,” Francis says.

Reference: Designing a 20th Century Time-Off Program.

Facing tight competition for talent and a maze of regulatory requirements, HR leaders are taking creative new approaches to vacation and sick time

By Danielle Braff.