THE REAL PRICE OF FREE TIME

LOVE him or loathe him, Richard Branson is hard to ignore. He is an inspirational figure to many, a publicity-hungry irritant to some, and to others he is quite possibly both. Personally, I can’t help liking the guy. And he has just ingratiated himself with office workers around the world by championing a new annual leave policy which allows staff to take as many days off as they wish. Branson, as you may have read, has followed the lead of online streaming firm Netflix in adopting the policy at his Virgin head offices in the US and UK. Not only that, staff don’t even have to tell their managers before switching off the laptop, slapping an out of office on their email and heading off for a few days of R&R. As long as they are up to date with every project and “100% certain it won’t damage the business or their careers”, they are free to come and go at will. “It is left to the employee alone to decide if and when he or she feels like taking a few hours, a day, a week or a month off,” wrote the billionaire, who urged businesses to follow suit in a brainwave he reckoned will lead to increased productivity and a driven workforce. What better way to make staff feel trusted, empowered and valued? Working in a busy retail travel agency? You’ve had a hectic week, you finally nailed that $10,000 booking so why not reward yourself with a few days’ unannounced leave? Never mind that your agency is already understaffed and there are 30 other itineraries you’re frantically trying to sort out. Just take off, assuming, don’t forget, that you’re 100% certain you’ve finished your work and that your absence won’t damage the business… or your career. And isn’t this the critical point? The reason why, frankly, it is so unworkable. It’s a lovely idea, but it sounds what it is – hopelessly utopian. When was the last time a travel consultant finished their work? It’s a fanciful proposition, particularly in today’s business environment where companies are asking fewer members of staff to do the same amount of work. And even in the unlikely event of a consultant somehow reaching a natural break in their workload, who would be 100% certain their absence would not have a detrimental effect on the business and their careers? Far from empowering staff it could have the opposite effect. Take away the structure of annual leave, and staff – with work piling around them – could potentially take fewer days off. Other news which grabbed my attention was the reappearance of former Helloworld chief executive Rob Gurney in a senior industry role, this time with Emirates. It provided proof, if any were needed, that is matters little how senior executives fare in their previous role, someone will always be willing to ignore the past and re-employ them on lavish wages.

When was the last time a travel consultant finished their work?