Welcome to 2011! We are looking forward to hearing more of your comments on this blog and as a reminder, if you have an idea or question you’d like to post, e-mail me at jkirst@allied360.com and I’ll do it on your behalf.

As we start the New Year and think of making changes, we need to look at what requires a change. In our December issue we posted the results of our 2010 Compensation Survey. A particular point I addressed in my Up Front column involved comments by a number of people who said their raises depended on meeting service goals, but to meet those goals they had to forfeit vacation time.

I invited those of you who have come up against this problem and mastered it to blog here with us and share your ideas. If you haven’t dealt with this but have a solution or suggestion, I’m sure your colleagues will look forward to hearing them.

With limited staffing and more work, how have you allowed for vacation time but still met your service goals?