Daydream
Photo by Viktor Juric on Unsplash
The other day I was driving home from work and started to day dream about my future software company.
More specifically, the plan for how I wanted to treat my employees and the company time off policy. Super exciting right? For me it is.
People feel valued when you let them take a break to spend with family, friends or to do whatever they want outside of work.
The time off plan combos with the compensation plan that I have been thinking about for awhile.
Compensation Plan:
All employees will start off at minimum $50,000 salary. If their position qualifies for more, they would start with more, but the minimum would be 50k. I got this idea from own experience in the workforce.
The issue I, and I am sure others can relate with, is that I need at least 50k to buy a house and be comfortable in my budget.
I want people to be comfy in their budget and not have that financial stress in the back of their mind. Whether they want to buy a house or rent, the 50k base salary will get them started.
Time Off Plan
I want to offer an unlimited vacation policy that allows people to take time off whenever they need a vacation, personal day, doctor appointment or just need a random Friday. They will have that freedom.
My thoughts in the car recently were specific to Holiday time, i.e. Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was thinking how would I offer the entire week of thanksgiving and Christmas off to the entire office? What i know is that it is nearly impossible in a software company to shut down the entire shop. But we could run a skeleton support team during Thanksgiving and Christmas, and offer flex time off for the Holiday time worked.
Just thinking about this fires me up. I love brainstorming about how to build a company were people want to come to work, feel valued and know they can take off to refresh and spend time with their families and friends.
I want to make that a priority in my organization. Human beings are not robots. We need time off and we need someone to pat us on the back every once in a while. I think paying people well and giving plenty of time off does that. It says, “hey, I want you to give 110% at work but, your time with family, and financial well being is important to us.
When you pay people well and treat them with love and respect, you generate happy employees. Happy employees make a better business. It is a rewarding cycle.
If you are planning a company, have you thought about your compensation and time off plan?