????在滑雪用具制造商Epic Planks公司，大多數(shù)鐘愛戶外運(yùn)動(dòng)的員工今年整個(gè)夏季都將被忙碌的工作占據(jù)。他們必須呆在店里，把玻璃纖維和塑料制成定制的雪橇，而不是去休假。

????雖然這家位于密歇根州大急流城的公司剝奪了員工的雙休日野營(yíng)之旅，但他們并沒有怨氣沖天，相反，他們竟然歡欣鼓舞，因?yàn)榻衲甓焖麄儗⒖梢韵硎芨L(zhǎng)的假期。

????原因在于公司創(chuàng)始人比爾?萬魯伊和他的合作伙伴決定，對(duì)于放棄夏季休假兩周的員工，公司將把假期延長(zhǎng)一倍。夏季是Epic Planks公司最繁忙的季節(jié)，因?yàn)楣拘枰a(chǎn)雪橇和滑雪板，以便在秋季進(jìn)行銷售。

????接受該休假方案的員工可以在冬天享受四周的長(zhǎng)假。這一想法來源于公司去年夏天的遭遇。當(dāng)時(shí)，不少員工在最后關(guān)頭申請(qǐng)休假，導(dǎo)致這家小公司陷入員工短缺的困境。為了保證產(chǎn)量，萬魯伊和他的合作伙伴不得不每天工作12個(gè)小時(shí)，每周工作6到7天。

????“滑雪和滑板滑雪是公司員工的最愛，雖然他們現(xiàn)在做出了一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)犧牲，但在以后可以獲得更豐厚的回報(bào)，”萬魯伊說。“今年夏天是我們第一次實(shí)行這項(xiàng)政策，不過反響不錯(cuò)。大家都很滿意。”

????Epic Planks并不是唯一一家對(duì)夏季人員安排進(jìn)行創(chuàng)新的公司。求職網(wǎng)站CareerBuilder.com的資深職業(yè)顧問邁克爾?歐文稱，許多公司要求員工制定自己的休假計(jì)劃，并要休假員工提前提交備忘錄，以避免不必要的意外。而且，他們也會(huì)進(jìn)行崗位輪換培訓(xùn)，這樣，在員工休假時(shí)可以由其他同事替補(bǔ)，此外，他們還會(huì)在必要時(shí)聘用臨時(shí)工。

????這些公司的努力表明，與往年相比，許多公司的人手并不充足，但盡管如此，他們?nèi)匀徽J(rèn)識(shí)到員工休假的重要性。

????歐文表示：“根本目的還是為了保證生產(chǎn)效率。如果員工筋疲力盡，公司的生產(chǎn)效率和員工的創(chuàng)造力都會(huì)下降。所以，雇主有義務(wù)告訴員工：‘你得騰出點(diǎn)時(shí)間去辦公室外面走走。’”

????位于美國(guó)弗吉尼亞州夏洛茨維爾市的水印設(shè)計(jì)（Watermark Design）公司主要從事網(wǎng)頁(yè)設(shè)計(jì)與廣告代理，這家公司的老板達(dá)西?沃琳?萊西就是這么做的。她定期問員工是否安排好了自己的休假計(jì)劃，直到員工承諾至少會(huì)在雙休日休假。

????沃琳?萊西說：“我要求員工必須休假。干我們這一行的，如果不休假，一定會(huì)身心俱疲。”

????5月份，她甚至聘用了一位初級(jí)設(shè)計(jì)師，來應(yīng)對(duì)夏季工作量的預(yù)期增長(zhǎng)。她解釋說：“對(duì)于我們來說，針對(duì)每一個(gè)項(xiàng)目培訓(xùn)一名自由職業(yè)者太過浪費(fèi)時(shí)間，不如找一名熟悉客戶的專職員工。”

????實(shí)際情況確實(shí)如此，CareerBuilder.com的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，今年夏天，約有五分之一的雇主有招聘計(jì)劃，其中57%的工作崗位都是長(zhǎng)期職位。

????CareerBuilder網(wǎng)站的歐文稱，這些公司的招聘計(jì)劃表明，在經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退時(shí)期為公司拼盡全力的員工們自己也已經(jīng)疲憊不堪，現(xiàn)在是時(shí)候增加人手了。他表示：“公司紛紛加大了招聘力度，支援過去兩年中在公司兢兢業(yè)業(yè)工作的員工。”

????倫敦商學(xué)院（London Business School）的副教授伊莎貝爾?費(fèi)爾南德斯?馬特奧認(rèn)為，如果公司希望聘用臨時(shí)工來頂替度假的員工，他們應(yīng)該從之前否決的求職者人才庫(kù)中尋找目標(biāo)。這些人通常都符合公司的要求，只是因?yàn)楦?jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手技能更熟練，他們才失去了機(jī)會(huì)。

????另外一個(gè)來源是人事公司，它們可以專門為公司提供所需要的人才，因?yàn)橐患覂?yōu)秀的代理公司能與員工保持長(zhǎng)期的良好關(guān)系，并保證他們具備必要的技能和知識(shí)。

????費(fèi)爾南德斯?馬特奧說，公司往往傾向于認(rèn)為，臨時(shí)崗位只要隨便招一個(gè)人就可以了。但真這么干之前，還是需要三思。“如果公司只需要聘用幾周的臨時(shí)工，他們就必須能夠馬上投入工作。公司可沒有時(shí)間對(duì)他們進(jìn)行培訓(xùn)。”

????（翻譯 劉進(jìn)龍）

????This summer, most of the outdoorsy employees at ski manufacturer Epic Planks will be getting their hands dirty in the shop, where they compress fiberglass and plastic into custom-made skis, with nary a vacation day.

????But rather than cursing the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company for their dearth of long-weekend camping trips, they're gleefully anticipating taking extra time off in the winter.

????That's because founder Bill Wanrooy and his partner will double up to two weeks of vacation time that workers decide not to take in the summer, which is Epic Planks' busy time for building skis and snowboards to be sold in the fall.

????Those who accepted the offer will instead enjoy up to four weeks of vacation in the winter. The idea stemmed from last summer's experience, when last-minute vacation requests left the small business so short-staffed that Wanrooy and his co-founder had to work 12-hour days, 6 or 7 days a week, to keep up with production demand.

????"For all of our employees, skiing and snowboarding is their passion, so that allows them to maybe sacrifice a little bit now, but the rewards pay off later," says Wanrooy. "This is our first summer of doing it, but the reception has been great. Everybody loves it."

????Epic Planks isn't the only company getting creative with summer staffing. Companies are asking employees to plan their own vacation coverage, requesting that vacationers send out memos to avoid any unwanted surprises, says Michael Erwin, senior career adviser for CareerBuilder.com. They're also cross-training employees to cover for their colleagues during time off, and bringing in temporary staff when needed.

????These companies' efforts point to the fact that while many companies are not staffed as heavily as they have been in previous years, they nevertheless recognize the importance of vacation time.

????"It comes back to productivity," Erwin says. "If your people are burned out, you're going to have less productive, less creative people. It's the responsibility of employers to say, 'You need to take time out of the office.'"

????That's exactly what owner Darcey Ohlin-Lacy does with her employees at Watermark Design, a web design and ad agency in Charlottesville, Va. She regularly asks staffers they've scheduled their vacations until she gets a commitment from them for at least a long weekend.

????"I ask that they take vacations," says Ohlin-Lacy. "In our business, if you don't take vacations, you do burn out."

????She even hired a junior designer in May to cover an anticipated uptick in workload for the summer. "For us to train a freelancer on each project is way more time-consuming than to just have someone who knows the brands we're working with," she explains.

????Indeed, a CareerBuilder.com survey found that one in five employers plan to hire this summer, and 57% of those open positions will be permanent.

????The hiring plans are recognition that that staff members who have weathered the recession have themselves grown weathered and that it's time to beef up the ranks, says CareerBuilder's Erwin. "Companies are starting to hire more and bring on people who can support the people who have been doing the work for the last two years," he says.

????Companies that want to take on temporary staff to cover for employees on vacation ought to take a second look at the pool of job candidates they've previously rejected, argues Isabel Fernandez-Mateo, an associate professor at London Business School. Often, those individuals are qualified but lost the position to someone even more skilled.

????Another likely source is a staffing firm that specializes in employees with the skills you need, since good agencies will have long-term relationships with employees and can ensure they have the necessary technical skills and knowledge.

????It's often tempting to think that you can just get anyone for a position that's temporary, says Fernandez-Mateo. But it's best to think twice before taking that approach. "If you're hiring them for only a few weeks, they need to hit the ground running. You cannot train them."