Tugboat Software Blog

It’s been an extremely hot summer here in Maryland with many days exceeding the 100 degree mark. While most people get excited talking about their vacation destinations, there is no rest for the folks that have to manage all that time off for large companies. They are the unsung heroes of summer.

I’ve worked for large companies in the past, and I never realized the effort that goes into balancing associate time off with company objectives…until I talked with Terry Schilling, VP of Sales and Marketing, at Tugboat Software.

Tugboat Software specializes in vacation scheduling software along with labor scheduling for medium to large companies. To properly set up their EchoQuote instance, I needed to understand as much as possible about vacation scheduling software, and how customers purchase and use it.

Vacation Scheduling Software

For vacation scheduling, although organizational policies take precedence, employee requests can be handed in several different ways. For example, the organization may designate some vacation requests as “first-come-first-served”. Other requests are processed automatically in a batch based on seniority, vacation credits and other policies. From the employee’s perspective, Tugboat’s vacation scheduling solution enables all of this with self-service features that they can easily access at home from the Internet. Even better, for those “first-come-first-served” requests, the software can provide an instant grant so the employee learns without waiting whether they can take the vacation or not.

Maintaining “Key staff” on board further complicates vacation scheduling. But this is handled with a system that manages quotas for the total allowed off from any group.

Of course, Tugboat’s vacation scheduling software is built to handle a variety of requirements. The difficult part, according to Terry, is sorting out the policies up-front that govern time off. This is where Tugboat’s years of experience pays off.

So, before you leave on vacation, thank the person whose job it is to schedule your time. Remember that while we’re vacationing, it is their *busy* season. Even though your time off is well deserved, it must be balanced with an endless set of rules and objectives to keep the organization on solid ground. The vacation schedulers make it look easy, especially if they are using Tugboat software.

Posted by Dale Underwood, CEO EchoQuote