Shashank Nizam

It was just so alien that I thought, this is something I definitely need to implement and try out.

I don't think they had taken a time off in the longest time possible.

We're going to try something new.

So he made an announcement.

Everyone's going to take a week off every seven weeks.

So we actually added a stick to it as well from day one.

Yes, on their week off, we will punish you if you are working.

You lose a week's worth of pay.

Wow, that's very serious.

If you reply to any email, WhatsApp, or Slack message internally or to a client, your pay will be docked for the week.

We started with an unlimited vacation policy and it worked very well for certain employees, let's say in Europe, who would definitely take that up.

But then for the other half of the company, which was not in Europe or North America, that was a bit of a challenge because some like me and some staff in Singapore or India, we just never took time off.

There was an employee in Spain.

who was giving us a lesson, a masterclass in taking vacations.

He was off every week in April.

In the summer, he's off for his birthday week.

And then he's definitely off for Christmas to see his grandmother.

Growing up in Singapore, this was unheard of.

Singapore is polar opposite end of the siesta lifestyle in Spain.

So this was new.