Vacation time should be a period of relaxation and tranquillity. However, all too often annual leave scrambles timelines, causes unplanned delays and results in teams stressing to meet deadlines.
Although employees working abroad can pick up the slack when colleagues are away, global collaboration can also add to the problem. This is because certain countries have unique ‘vacation cultures’ that can make working across borders difficult.
While workers in the U.S. are often allocated 10 days of paid holiday annually, most employees in Norway take 2 to 3 weeks off in July for a communal summer break.
For fast-moving marketing teams facing down important deadlines, having periods throughout the year where large swathes of people are off can feel like an impossible hurdle to overcome.
Although restricting when employees can take time off or slashing annual leave allowance can seem like the only way to stay on track, doing so could lower worker morale, diminish productivity and scare off potential talent.
To stay afloat with a reduced workforce during peak vacation season, we’ve identified a handful of must-have tools for any marketing team.
Programmes that streamline marketing processes
Whether it’s in the office or between your global divisions, different peaks in holiday mean there may be times when your team is missing large swathes of people.
Not only does this reduce your department’s capabilities, but it could also mean key expertise are temporarily missing from the company. Gaps in the workforce can send productivity plummeting, and often require those still working to pitch in longer hours to meet deadlines.
Expedite content creation with BAM by Papirfly™
For fast-paced marketing teams already facing shrinking budgets, delivering the variety of content at the volume required is already a mammoth undertaking. With the added disruption that peak vacation periods can bring, this challenge only gets harder.
- Create on-style assets at pace with zero design experience using BAM’s smart templates and introduce a new era of consistency to your employer brand.
- Get crucial details correct every time with in-built PIM and ERP integration tools; perfect for retailers creating custom offers or their own catalogue
- Localise collateral in just a few clicks to ensure your message resonates with stakeholders all over the world.
Simplify project management with monday.com
To meet quotas and deadlines, planning is crucial – without a clear roadmap, teams can get lost, jobs can get missed and valuable time is lost. However, project management can be a lengthy exercise in and of itself.
To prevent this crucial task from further disrupting operations when teams are light on the ground, monday.com is a comprehensive project management tool that can streamline this process from start to finish.
- Easily plan, track and monitor the progress of projects in a single digital place.
- Identify and tackle roadblocks in advance before they cause issues.
- Oversee projects at a glance to make crucial decisions with confidence.
Maintain your employer brand with ease using Personio
When the clock is ticking, and your marketing team is understaffed, it can be tempting to let candidate tracking take a backseat. However, an employer brand seen to be inactive can have a huge negative impact on how it’s perceived.
To keep job seekers all over the world engaged throughout the peak vacation season, Personio is a digital applicant tracking platform that focuses on simplifying and accelerating the recruitment process.
- Automatically collate applicant details into a single, digital profile and tag strengths and weaknesses to identify top talent with ease.
- Save time by using templates for invitations and rejections, and keep job seekers up to date at every step.
- Access a detailed analytics dashboard to monitor stats, such as time-to-hire and cost-per-hire.
Platforms to centralise files
As well as reducing the time it takes to carry out certain tasks, such as content creation and applicant tracking, another way to cope with a smaller workforce during peak vacation season is to centralise files.
The last thing you want is to rely solely upon a certain colleague or office for files. Not only does this take time out of the sender’s day, but you may also be unable to access what you need when they are away from their desk.
Store files in one place with BAM
By using a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system, and storing everything teams need in a central place, there’s never a scenario where work has to come to a halt because crucial files are inaccessible.
Alongside BAM’s powerful suite of content creation tools, the in-built DAM is packed full of handy time-saving features for any marketing team.
- Easily find the content you’re looking for with advanced filters and assemble retail promotions with speed and confidence.
- Assign permissions to individual users to give your fiercest advocates the content they need to evangelise your employer brand.
- Send and save files easily to ensure your international offices have the content they need to present a unified image.
Don’t let the peak vacation period send deadlines spiralling
For marketing teams that may already be contending with tighter budgets, holiday time can seem like an insurmountable hurdle to overcome.
However, with the right tools, you can take charge, regain control and deliver the output you need on time, in budget and without the need to work long hours or limit holiday allowances.
To learn more about BAM and how it can help streamline content creation, centralise assets and keep up during peak vacation season, learn more online or book a demo today.