Cathy Duncan
Many people assume that only Fortune 500 companies can invest in sabbatical programs for their employees, but that’s just not the case. Take Standing Partnership, a St. Louis-based public relations agency with 24 employees and about $3.5 million in revenue in 2007.
The firm began its sabbatical program 12 years ago, and “it’s one of the best retention tools we have,” says president and CEO, Cathy Dunkin. Employees are eligible after their first seven years of employment, and they get two months’ paid to go and do what’s important to them.
“We encourage people to do something that personally energizes them,” Dunkin says. “One woman put together a book for her grandmother’s 100th birthday. People have traveled and done a lot of family things.” One person wrote a novel. Another spent time with her family.
Planning for each sabbatical is especially critical, because Standing Partnership is a small firm. “Since we’re an agency, planning is doubly important – because that person isn’t working and you can’t bill for them.”
Dunkin says the program works well because the company has a culture of personal responsibility. And when it comes to work coverage, team members pitch in with a collaborative spirit. “Every body does it for everyone else, because they’re looking forward to their own sabbaticals.”
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