Employees anxious about juggling vacation time to squeeze in trips to the tropics between family visits during the holidays won’t be sweating it this year at one Vancouver startup.
BuildDirect is offering workers unlimited vacation time.
Heidi Rolston, BuildDirect’s vice-president of people, told Business In Vancouver the company informed employees Monday (January 11) of the new policy that goes into effect immediately.
BuildDirect – the so-called Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) of home-building products – is one of the few Canadian tech startups to establish itself as an anchor in the Vancouver ecosystem, raising $110 million in financing to bring its valuation to $500 million.
It has nearly doubled its workforce over the past two years, growing from 175 workers in January 2014 to its present headcount of more than 300. After the company raised $30 million in January 2014, CEO Jeff Booth said the plan was to eventually grow the roster to nearly 500.
As for the possibility some of those new recruits could abuse the unlimited supply of vacation days, Rolston’s not concerned.
“We’ve done a good job of hiring really talented people and (we) think that really talented people are the best judge of how to get their work done,” she said.
“We demand a lot from people on our team and we have high expectations around the results they have to deliver. But we also believe heavily in the importance of taking time off to recharge.”
Rolston said BuildDirect would continue to measure employees’ performances.
If too much vacation time impacts a worker’s performance, a manager would address it with the employee.
And it will be up to employees and managers to negotiate which days are available so teams aren’t left understaffed for long stretches throughout the year.
“There may be some compromise that has to be made,” Rolston said, adding an entire sales team would not be allowed to let calls go unanswered indefinitely.
As the Canadian dollar has dropped dramatically the past year, falling from US86¢ in December 2014 to US69¢ as of Friday (January 15), Vancouver tech companies have been looking at creative ways to attract and retain talent who could fetch higher salaries paid in U.S. dollars in the Silicon Valley.
Startups have long been using stock options to compensate workers but the tech sector has expressed concerns over the federal Liberal’s campaign pledge to cap deductions on stock options.
Rolston said unlimited vacation is one of the ways BuildDirect hopes to attract top talent and keep the workers they already have.
“One of the questions that always comes up for people moving between organizations is, ‘Can I maintain my vacation?’” she said.
“We say, ‘We’ve got you covered because that’s not a problem now.’”
