An office holiday planner is an important function of any business with many people opting to use spreadsheets to plan their holidays. This is fine for some purposes, but the spreadsheet method is outdated and even counterproductive in today’s modern world. It can cause confusion and frustration when the same vacation gets planned twice, or essential details get missed out entirely. The Excel Staff Holiday Planner template, for instance, is customizable and can track absences in days or hours, but it still has its limitations. A shared calendar view can help visualize absences, holidays, and important dates, making it easier for everyone to stay informed. Tracking absences, holidays, and time off is more efficient with dedicated tools.
There are many different ways to manage holiday leave at work, but one method that is becoming increasingly popular within the UK office is using a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are more manageable to visually scan than other methods of management, which can make them an attractive choice for busy employees. They also show precisely how many days you have left available or how many you have already booked off, making it easy to see when the next holiday period begins. Additionally, the Excel template allows multiple employees to be tracked and includes options for custom leave types, making it a flexible tool for some workplaces. You can use a specific code (such as ‘S’ for sick leave, ‘L’ for time off in lieu, or other abbreviations and alphanumeric characters) to represent different types of absences in the spreadsheet. Entering a code into a cell helps monitor and distinguish various absence reasons, making it easier to categorize and track leave. Tracking absences by categories (such as sick leave, annual leave, or time off in lieu) provides more detailed reporting. Weekends are often marked in a different color or style to distinguish non-working days.
While this methodology works well for some people who are confident with Excel spreadsheets, there are several reasons why it might not be your best choice:
- Spreadsheets are inflexible and can be difficult to update as your business grows. Using the drag feature in Excel can help copy formulas or data, but may lead to errors if not managed carefully.
- They’re not always easy to share with other people in your team, especially if you have a large number of employees or multiple locations.
- They don’t provide a clear overview of who is off and when, making it hard to plan ahead. Tracking the status of each leave day (e.g., approved, pending, taken) is difficult in spreadsheets.
- They’re not very secure, so you need to be careful about who has access to them.
- They’re not very visually appealing, which can make it hard to spot patterns or trends. Having a clear key or legend is important to interpret the codes and categories used in the planner.
Dedicated holiday management apps offer a more streamlined and secure way to manage staff leave, with features like real-time updates, automated calculations, and easy access for all team members. These tools are amazing for simplifying holiday management and improving user satisfaction.
Introduction to Holiday Planning
Holiday planning is a vital part of running a successful business, ensuring that staff holidays are managed smoothly and efficiently. Without a clear holiday planner in place, businesses risk overlapping absences, reduced productivity, and unnecessary stress for both managers and employees. By implementing a structured holiday planner—whether it’s a traditional wall planner, a digital holiday tracker, or an online holiday planner—companies can streamline the process of booking and tracking staff holidays. This not only helps to avoid conflicts and last-minute scrambles but also ensures that all staff holiday requests are handled fairly and transparently. A well-organised holiday planner supports the business by keeping everyone informed, reducing absenteeism, and making it easier to plan for busy periods or key events. Ultimately, investing in a reliable holiday tracker or wall planner is a smart move for any business looking to manage staff holidays more effectively and keep the workplace running smoothly.
Spreadsheets are inflexible and can’t handle the complexities of holiday planning
A spreadsheet provides no extra functionality besides updating numbers quickly and easily. If you decide to use a spreadsheet, you will need to manually add information about each holiday day taken or any changes in your plans. Also, different-sized businesses have additional requirements for their holidays.
For example, some companies send their employees on work-related training courses while on leave, and others don’t. You can use a spreadsheet for this kind of planning, but you will need multiple versions depending on the business needs of each client.
They’re difficult to share with other people, leading to duplication of effort and missed opportunities
As spreadsheets are just numbers, nothing stops two or more people from making changes simultaneously, meaning that you could lose someone if they assume that the other person has finished editing.
They don’t provide a clear overview of all the annual leave tasks that need to be done, which can cause confusion and frustration
People often look at spreadsheets for planning holidays, weeks or months in advance, so it is essential to view the information in a way that is easy to understand. If you are not very good with spreadsheets, have many different clients who each use their spreadsheet format or have many complex rules about leave to follow, it can get confusing when looking back through your records.
They don’t consider changes in plans or unexpected events, which can ruin your holiday
There isn’t enough room on a spreadsheet for every eventuality, but sometimes things change between requesting leave and taking it. If you need to change the holiday date or be ill before or during your holiday, this will not be reflected on your spreadsheet.
They’re not very visually appealing, so they can be hard to read and understand
When you create a spreadsheet for office holiday management, everyone who needs to use it must understand how to read it. There’s nothing worse than spending hours updating information just for someone else to look at it and think that you’ve made a mistake because they don’t know what the numbers mean.
There Are Better Options Out There
All the problems listed above can be solved using dedicated holiday management apps. These apps are specifically designed for managing staff holidays and organising all sorts of things like reporting, avoiding clashes on bookings, automatic calculation of allowance for users etc. For example, Timetastic offers a holiday tracker that provides a centralized and up-to-date record of employee absences, ensuring that everyone stays informed.
They’re simple to use — all you have to do is pick what leave types you want to be included, such as annual leave, sick leave, and time off in lieu, then start logging the leave booked by your users. The app will organise your list into months based on the start date. Timetastic, for instance, allows employees to submit a leave request directly through the website, streamlining the approval process. The website interface is designed to be intuitive for both managers and employees. Timetastic also enables employees to book leave via mobile, enhancing convenience for users and making the process even more seamless. Helpful features like alerts and reminders make managing leave easier. After using these user-friendly features, staff love the ease of booking time off and the visibility of their remaining holiday allowance. Timetastic has over 200,000 users, including various types of businesses like charities and online retailers. There is also a wide range of digital holiday planners and calendars available to suit different business needs. Over the past several years, users have found these tools to be highly effective and reliable, with consistent improvements that make them a better choice than manual methods like spreadsheets.
The benefits of an office holiday tracker and management software product
Using an office holiday tracker or management software brings a host of benefits to any workplace. With a user-friendly holiday planner, managers can easily track staff holidays, monitor holiday allowances, and prevent overbooking. The whole team gains visibility into who is off and when, making it easier to coordinate meetings, plan projects, and ensure adequate coverage at all times. A holiday tracker simplifies the process of requesting and approving leave, reducing paperwork and saving valuable time for both managers and employees. Automated reminders and notifications help everyone stay on top of important dates, while a centralised calendar view keeps all your staff informed about upcoming holidays and events. By managing staff holidays efficiently, businesses can improve their customer services team’s responsiveness, avoid urgent last-minute issues, and create a more organised, harmonious office environment.
Features of a Holiday Planner
A comprehensive holiday planner is packed with features designed to make managing staff holidays as seamless as possible. Key features include a clear calendar view that displays all staff holidays, leave types, and important dates at a glance. The ability to set and track holiday allowances ensures that employees know exactly how many days they have left, while managers can monitor usage across the team. A built-in request and approval system streamlines the process of booking leave, making it easy for staff to submit requests and for managers to approve or decline them with just a few clicks. Automated reminders and notifications keep everyone updated about upcoming holidays and events, reducing the risk of missed dates. Integration with other HR systems further simplifies processes, allowing you to manage leave types, track absences, and generate reports with ease. By incorporating these features, a holiday planner helps businesses manage staff holidays efficiently, reduce administrative workload, and support the needs of both managers and employees.
The benefits of a office holiday tracker and management software product
- Flexibility – you can easily change the settings to suit your individual business needs for each client and modify them again later on if they change
- Collaboration – sharing information with other managers is easy, and no one will accidentally lose or overwrite any changes that have been made by anyone else
- Customisable reports – instead of scanning through many different spreadsheets that all look slightly different, you can configure your holiday planner to give you the kind of report that your business requires
- Reduce errors – using our online tool ensures fewer human errors when entering information. When done manually, there are more possibilities of errors since they are taken care of calculations and ensure that everything is displayed in the correct format on each report
- Security – you can save your records without worrying about lots of different people having access to them at once; we take care of updating information whenever it is requested by one person only
- Convenience – you will be able to plan everyone’s holiday quickly, efficiently, and with minimal fuss; all you need to do is input the start and end dates for each person on your team, depending on their annual leave entitlements. Timetastic includes real-time updates on each team member’s holiday allowance and remaining time off, making it easier to manage leave effectively. The WorkSmarter system can roll over unused holiday automatically to the next year or adjust allowances manually.
Setting Up a Holiday Planner
Setting up a holiday planner is the foundation of effective staff holiday management. Whether you’re running a small team or a larger company, having a clear system in place helps you track employee absences, manage annual leave, and keep everyone on the same page. Start by choosing the right format for your business—some teams prefer a traditional wall planner or year planner for a quick, at-a-glance overview, while others opt for a digital holiday tracker that can be accessed from anywhere. Many workplaces use office wall planners to track events and schedules, and a variety of wall planners are available in month and year formats to suit different organizational needs. Wall planners can also be used to note meetings, conferences, and calls, making them versatile tools for workplace organization.
A user-friendly holiday planner should be accessible to all your staff, including new employees, so everyone can easily see who’s off and when. Make sure your planner allows you to track different types of absences and is flexible enough to adapt as your team grows. In addition to tracking absences, a holiday planner can also indicate when an employee is present, providing a complete picture of attendance and availability. By setting up a holiday planner that suits your workplace, you’ll make managing holidays and absences much simpler for your whole team.
Customizing Leave Types
Every business is unique, and customizing leave types in your holiday planner ensures you’re meeting the specific needs of your workplace. Most modern holiday planners let you add and adjust leave types, so you can track not just annual leave.
If you have questions about customizing leave types or adjusting features in your holiday planner, support resources are available to answer your queries.
Departmental Organisation
Organising staff holidays at the departmental level is key to maintaining smooth operations and ensuring adequate coverage across the business. A well-structured holiday planner allows managers to identify patterns and trends in staff holidays within each department, making it easier to anticipate busy periods and plan accordingly. By tracking holiday allowances and coordinating leave across teams, businesses can prevent overbooking and ensure that essential roles are always covered. Improved communication between departments is another major benefit, as a centralised holiday planner keeps everyone informed about who is off and when. This level of organisation helps to reduce conflicts, boost productivity, and ensure that all teams are working together effectively to manage staff holidays and maintain high performance.
Visualising Staff Holidays
Visualising staff holidays is a powerful way to keep your team organised and informed. Tools like wall planners and online holiday planners provide a user-friendly, at-a-glance overview of staff holidays, leave types, and upcoming events. With a clear calendar view, managers can quickly spot patterns in staff absences, identify potential conflicts, and plan for key dates or busy periods. Visualising staff holidays also makes it easier to communicate with teams and departments, ensuring that everyone knows who is available and when. By using a holiday planner that offers visual tools, businesses can make smarter staffing decisions, reduce the risk of scheduling issues, and create a more transparent and collaborative workplace. Whether you prefer a traditional wall planner or a digital solution, visualising staff holidays is essential for effective holiday planning and team management.
Final takeaway
The reason for many of these advantages is that an HRMS system utilises powerful databases specifically designed for storing/managing team member records and other information such as job profiles, qualifications etc.
With businesses constantly growing, the need for sharing/exchanging information across multiple departments is becoming more commonplace. This means that companies need systems that facilitate fast and efficient cross-departmental communication between employees.
For instance, systems that enable multiple users to access the same database or are frequently absent from work instantly identify those staff members who may require additional support or training.
