Virgin staff can now take as many holidays as they want

Netflix is already doing it, and companies like Google have flirted with the idea.

Now, not tracking the amount of annual or vacation leave staff might take has become "a very Virgin thing to do".

In a blog post, Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson explains how he got put onto the idea by his daughter, Holly, who told him about Netflix's open and trusting culture around holidays.

"Holly read a Daily Telegraph article and immediately forwarded the piece to me with a clearly excited email saying, ‘Dad, check this out. It’s something I have been talking about for a while and I believe it would be a very Virgin thing to do to not track people’s holidays.’

"She then went on to say, ‘I have a friend whose company has done the same thing and they’ve apparently experienced a marked upward spike in everything – morale, creativity and productivity have all gone through the roof.’ Needless to say I was instantly intrigued and wanted to learn more."

ALSO READ: Tell your people to take a (real) holiday

The idea of the vacation policy (which isn't really a policy) is that it allows all staff to take time off when they see fit - without asking for permission or limits to how long they can take off at one time.

The outcome is that staff feel trusted and appreciated to take their leave time into their own hands, all while still being expected to perform highly and complete their work without letting their colleagues and team down. The level of trust is aimed at increasing engagement by making happier, well-rested, appreciated staff.

"It is always interesting to note how often the adjectives ‘smart’ and ‘simple’ describe the cleverest of innovations – well, this is surely one of the simplest and smartest initiatives I have heard of in a long time," he wrote.

"I’m delighted to say that we have introduced this same (non) policy at our parent company in both the UK and the US, where vacation policies can be particularly draconian. Assuming it goes as well as expected, we will encourage all our subsidiaries to follow suit, which will be incredibly exciting to watch."

What do you think? Is this the way of the future as the lines between work and personal life blur? Or would the lack of structure be an issue for many organisations?

Image: @richardbranson