As managers and business owners, we know that our success rises and falls based on our employees. We need their best efforts in everything we’re trying to do, and when we’re missing a team member, everyone feels it. The last thing we want to deal with is an unexpected curveball from an employee that means they’ll be out of commission. It can be far too easy to be dismissive of requests that involve time away from work.
But saying “no” shouldn’t be our default response. If you’ve built up a team and corporate culture that truly values and supports each employee, you owe it to them to consider their requests and do your best to engage your team to find a creative response.
Employees know their absence will be disruptive and have likely thought long and hard about making the request. That means the employee deserves a fair hearing. It also means there could be negative consequences for morale if the employee feels that you didn’t take the request seriously.
The approach
Approach odd requests as a challenge that the employee is your partner in solving. If an employee requests three weeks of PTO, avoid your knee-jerk reaction of refusing right away. Partner with the employee to think about how this could happen.
Can other team members cover portions of her responsibilities? Would he consider working remotely rather than taking all that time off? With today’s tools for working virtually, many of the situations that used to require employees to take time off can be accommodated with a little flexibility and technology.
This type of approach might take a shift in your — or your leadership’s — thinking, if you’re used to believing that people are only working when they’re sitting where you can see them. That may be true for some employees, but if you’ve got an employee who’s making an out-of-the-norm request that you’re seriously considering, they’re probably an employee that you trust and value.
Trust is an issue
So treat them that way — trust them to deliver on their responsibilities and get the work done that needs to be done. It may take your leadership to rally employees around their colleagues to get the resources the requesting employees need, but it definitely can be done.
And by uniting your teams in running towards the problem of supporting one of your own, you may even see increased productivity and team unity across the entire organization.
The key thing to remember is that valuable employees deserve your consideration, even if their requests are offbeat or potentially disruptive. Instead of immediately reciting the reasons it won’t work, share the challenges fulfilling the request would pose for you and work with the employee to find a solution.
Even if you ultimately can’t accommodate them, employees will remember your transparency and willingness to listen. Depending on the nature of the request and the timeframe, you could be trading a short-term disruption for long-term employee loyalty, and that’s almost always a fair trade.
Tricia Sciortino is the president of eaHELP. She joined eaHELP in November 2010 as a virtual assistant and the first employee of the company. She has a background in senior retail management, including experience overseeing a team of more than 150 employees, and supporting senior leaders in the church construction industry. For information, visit www.eahelp.com
