“Actually, I do have another question. It’s more personal than the organizational structure, though.”
“Okay…”
“How many weeks of vacation did you take last year?”
“I’m not sure. Why?”
“One of the things I asked the first few people I met with today was where they went on vacation last year. I wanted to make friendly conversation and get people talking openly. I was surprised to learn that none of them went anywhere, except a weekend trip or two. Your team is highly compensated, and people who make seven figures or more tend to spend money on lavish vacations and summer homes.”
Merrick nodded. “In order to really take a vacation, you need to disconnect from the office. That means you have to trust someone else to manage your portfolio while you’re gone, which isn’t easy to do. Or you have to work while on vacation, and that doesn’t go over well when you’re supposed to be on a family trip.”
“But then they never get a break from stress, and we know chronic stress causes memory impairment. If you don’t disconnect, you become less productive at work over time. I took the liberty of asking Joan in HR for a list of vacation days taken over the last year versus how many days they were entitled to. What would you guess is the average percent of allocated days off people are taking?”
Merrick shrugged. “I don’t know. Fifty…maybe sixty percent?”
“Nineteen.”
“Shit. I didn’t know it was that bad.”
“The average person gets five weeks of vacation and takes less than one.”
“What am I supposed to do? I can’t force them to take a trip.”
“No, you can’t. But you can force them to take their time off. You can institute a policy that all employees must utilize the majority of their time off. You could even cut their access to the company’s systems during that time.”
“I don’t know about cutting access. I think most of them would go ape shit if I did that. But maybe making vacation time mandatory could work.”
“I think that would be a great place to start. Though, like with most things, you should set the example. You can’t expect your staff to think it’s okay to disconnect for a week or two at a time if the boss isn’t doing it.”
Merrick nodded. “Point taken.”
“Can I ask you something else personal?”
He shook his head. “No, I’d rather you didn’t.”
“Oh…okay.”
“I’m just screwing with you. I wanted to see how you’d react.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Sort of like when you pretended not to know I was the woman from the fitting room for your own amusement?”
He smiled. “What’s your question?”
“Are you dating anyone?”
“Are you asking because you’re interested in filling that role if I say no?”
I felt heat in my cheeks. “Oh no… I wasn’t trying to insinuate…”
“Relax, I’m teasing. “You’re actually turning pink, Dr. Vaughn.”
I hated that my face always gave me away. Touching my warm cheek, I shook my head. “Well, it’s a little embarrassing if your boss thinks you’re hitting on him your second week on the job.” Merrick looked completely amused. “You really enjoy watching me squirm, don’t you?”
He seemed to take a moment to think about it before he answered. “Oddly, I do.”