Paid Time Off Isn't Optional

At Undivided Life, failure to take time off is considered a performance issue.

As we add members to the team, we are hyper-intentional about the policies, expectations, and cultural norms we seek to infuse throughout our company.

Many companies have unlimited paid time off (PTO) policies, and that’s great, but we wanted to go further. We recognize that taking time away from work to focus on what matters is critical to the formation of each individual and our team’s health.
 
Taking ample vacations and prioritizing time for personal matters is part of our individual scorecards, and failure to meet expectations is considered a performance issue.
 
We delivered our first offer letter last week and below is the PTO policy we included. 👇
 
********************
𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗢𝗳𝗳:

𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗢𝗳𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆, 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳.

𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗮𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲.

********************  

What are you doing to create a high-performance culture that simultaneously seeks the best for the company, the team, and every individual human person involved?

Work From Work Flexibility

For the past two decades, Undivided Life co-founder Jeff Schiefelbein has proclaimed and promoted Work from Work Flexibility (WFWF). The strength of this approach is just as valid in a post-pandemic world as it was before.  The concept is simple.

Work works best when we work together at work, AND adults should be given the freedom, trust, and dignity to handle all their responsibilities however, whenever, and wherever they deem appropriate.

• Want to go see the kids at school? Cool.
• Need to be on social media? Go for it.
• Taking a two-week trip? Have fun.
• Need to work from home? Great.

Just be an adult, and it all works out.

Communicate, plan, coordinate with your team, make sacrifices when needed, don’t work when you’re on vacation, and take ownership of the Work from Work Flexibility and experience the great freedom that comes from great accountability.

WFWF doesn’t mean you can’t work from home or that you are a disappointment if you do. WFWF recognizes the positive impacts of working with and near others and makes Working from Work the default mindset.

Always Include "Board Only" Time for Nonprofits

Nonprofit board meetings often end with the chairman asking, “Does anyone have any topics for a board-only discussion,” while the staff members are still present. This is a bad precedent to set on several levels.

First, if a board member needs to bring something to the entire board's attention, they are singled out by speaking up in front of the staff. Knowing which board member raises their hand can lead to unnecessary concerns from staff members as they begin to tell themselves a story about what topic is likely to come from that specific board member.

Second, when the board defaults to this approach, there is little to no time for open discussions that can help a board better collaborate, challenge, and lead the organization. There must be time and space for board-level dialogue without the staff present.

Third, suppose a “board-only” session is added after not having one for a long time. In that case, the alarm caused within the staff is usually disproportionate to the actual discussion. Undue stress and anxiety cover the staff as they exit the room, and now they are dragging an unknown weight around.

But there is a better way.

Always include a “board only” session at the end of every board meeting.

Meet with only the voting board members and cover important topics while leaving ample time for the dialogue to uncover other areas that must be addressed.