Last year I eliminated our PTO policy.
I called it "unlimited."
The board loved it.
HR loved it.
Finance really loved it.
Let me explain why Finance loved it.
Under the old policy, employees accrued 18 days per year. Unused days carried over. When employees quit, we owed them money. Cash. For days they earned but didn't take.
That's a liability. On the books. $4.7 million in accrued PTO across 2,300 employees.
I made it disappear.
With one policy change.
"Unlimited PTO."
You can't accrue what's infinite. You can't owe what was never counted. The liability vanished. $4.7 million. Gone.
The CFO sent me a bottle of wine.
I told employees it was about "trust and flexibility."
It was about the balance sheet.
But "balance sheet optimization" doesn't fit on a careers page.
"Unlimited PTO" does.
We updated the job postings.
Applications increased 23%.
People love unlimited.
Until they try to use it.
Under the old policy, employees took an average of 17 days per year.
Under unlimited, they take 11.
That's not a bug.
That's the design.
When PTO is a number, people take the number. It's theirs. They earned it. Managers can't argue with a number.
When PTO is "unlimited," people take nothing.
Because unlimited comes with questions.
"Is this a good time?"
"Who's covering?"
"What will people think?"
The guilt does the enforcement.
I don't have to say no.
The culture says no.
I just built the culture.
We track time-off requests in Workday. I see everything.
A senior engineer requested two weeks in July.
His manager approved it.
Officially.
Then sent a Slack message.
"Totally fine. Just wanted to flag that the Erikson deliverable overlaps. Probably fine. Just flagging."
The engineer took four days.
Unlimited means whatever your anxiety allows.
For most people, that's less than before.
Some employees don't take any PTO.
We call them "high performers."
They get promoted.
Then they manage others.
They don't approve much PTO either.
The system self-replicates.
A recruiter asked how we "stay competitive."
I said, "Unlimited PTO."
She asked how much people actually take.
I said, "That's not tracked."
It is tracked.
I have a dashboard.
I don't share the dashboard.
We did an employee survey.
84% said they "appreciated the flexibility of unlimited PTO."
12% said they "wished they felt more comfortable taking time off."
We published the 84%.
The 12% went in a folder.
The folder is called "Noted."
I don't open that folder.
Someone in engineering asked if we could go back to accrued PTO.
I said, "That would limit your flexibility."
He said he wanted limits.
I said, "That's not aligned with our culture of trust."
He stopped asking.
Trust is a funny word.
I trust employees to feel too guilty to use their benefits.
They trust me to frame that guilt as freedom.
That's the deal.
I'm presenting at an HR conference next month.
The session is called "Unlimited PTO: Building a Culture of Ownership."
Ownership means employees own their guilt.
I own the savings.
The policy costs us nothing.
Because employees take nothing.
And call it a benefit.
I'll be VP of People by Q2.
Unlimited upside.
No matter how rich you are as a Nigerian, we are all poor together.
You only notice it when something bad happens. There is a fire, but no fire service. There is an accident, but no ambulance. No first aid. No system to help people.
Anthony Joshua, a world boxing champion, was involved in an accident. He is rich and well known all over the world, yet no ambulance came. People just surrounded him, watching and recording. It looked like a show. No control.
No help. Two people died in that accident.
Last month, a governor’s aide was stabbed at a political event. Instead of medical help, people carried him on their shoulders. Still no ambulance. Not even for someone close to power.
This is real poverty.
In Nigeria, money cannot save you in an emergency. Connections do not help. When danger comes, everyone is the same.
Some rich people think asking for a better country is only for poor people. They are wrong. One day, they will understand.
Nigeria is poor. Very poor.
May the dead rest in peace. Wishing Anthony Joshua quick recovery.
What are the odds that this same accident that Anthony Joshua survived but unfortunately got two other people killed could have happened to him in the UK where he is based? I admit that accident can happen anywhere in the world, but I know that an overloaded truck would never be allowed on the road in the UK. And I also know that UK roads will never degenerate to the appalling condition that Ogun State roads have become.
OK, let's assume that the accident did happen to him in the UK, do you think there won't be any ambulance at all in the accident scene?
All I am trying to point out is that Nigeria roads are death traps and it is very necessary for the government to fix the roads. If the government wants to tax Nigerians like other western countries tax their people, the government should at least provide the basic amenities for the benefit of the masses. I know some people will still say that I hate Nigeria and its government but I don't care how they feel. Ìwọ̀fà l'ẹnu. Anyone living abroad but still supports the anyhowness and poor living condition that the government has subjected the people to is the one who truly hates Nigerians.
I wish AJ a quick recovery and I pray that the souls of the departed victims find an eternal rest.
With Charlie Kirk, it was not about racism and there was justice/consequences because the white man that murdered him was arrested and will definitely be charged for murder.
The uproar about George Floyd’s murder was because of overt racism and an injustice because the cop was basically going to just walk. It wasn’t until all media coverage and rioting that pressured there to eventually be real consequences for the cop.
I don’t understand why I keep seeing there be a comparison between George Floyd and Charlie Kirk and people saying “why weren’t we rioting for Charlie Kirk?”
the Diddy verdict is going to set a nasty precedent and trend for what people (especially those with wealth & power) believe they can get away with, when it comes to sex, domestic violence, & abuse crimes. and that's honestly, the most terrifying part of this entire case.
I have said that Nigeria and other African countries should kiss remittances goodbye as soon as the current generation, still working and sending money home, retires. GenZ pikins no send anyone papa message.
Trump said he’d end the war in Ukraine on day one.
He didn’t.
He said he negotiated peace between India and Pakistan.
He didn’t.
He said he had brokered a ceasefire between Israel & Iran.
He hasn’t.
The man’s grasp on the truth is so weak, even his lies come with disclaimers.