I used to forget that public holidays existed. It would typically take up until midday for me to realise that the rest of the country was on hiatus. Sometimes via social media, usually because I’d tried to access some normally accessible service, but its handlers were catching up on their beauty sleep or whatever else people do on publicly sanctioned breaks.
Now it’s gotten harder, if not impossible to ignore public holidays, because of one word. Staff.
What is your approach to public holidays? In case you forgot, today is Workers’ day in Nigeria, which I believe should certainly be observed…well, it was yesterday (May 1st), but it got pushed to the most hated day of the week. Mondays make no difference to me, but I’m certainly not complaining.
I’ve totally forgotten what public holidays are. I was told of today’s holiday by a banker friend yesterday. Well done @lordbanks. The fact that you are being reminded of public holidays by staff shows how far you’ve come.
Entrepreneurs can deal with public holidays in four ways:
Totally forget (hence non-existent) - perfect for small startups run by just founders or co-founders and a couple of over-committed staff,
Remembered but choose to ignore, explaining to them the reason why you can’t afford to loose any manhours, but then, gradually earning their wrath,
Remembered but choose to ignore by compensating them,
Remembered and complied.
In all sincerity, I will prefer number three. The compensation paid is nothing compared to the value of their manhours.
Public holidays are painful Bro. Especially after loosing the weekend.
Marketing staff need it though. Without these breaks and public holidays, they’ll run into the ground.
@Ndianabasi It gets to a point where compensation don’t work any more. I think it’s good to just let staff take the day off and feel properly employed.
That’s a fact. Or maybe, you can allow them choose: go for holidays or work and get compensated! I guess balancing staff needs and company’s needs is a delicate thing!