How Drury Design Brought Accountability to Leave Management
Drury Design is a strategic communications and event marketing agency that produces unforgettable experiences for companies including IBM, Zillow, NetApp, and NARCAN. With a full-time team of 35 employees and a network of freelancers working across different time zones, visibility into employee availability is essential for keeping operations smooth.
The company’s hybrid structure and frequent travel schedules meant one thing: coordinating time off efficiently across departments was becoming harder and harder.
The Challenge: Limited Access, Delayed Requests
While teams internally had a general idea of who was working onsite with clients, enjoying time off on vacation or maybe out sick, that information was not easily accessible across the company.
There was no unified process in place to streamline requests, approvals, and visibility across departments.
To make things more difficult, the only way for employees to check their remaining leave was through the company’s PEO website, which added friction and slowed down the process. HR and IT were spending unnecessary time chasing down requests and clarifying availability.
“We needed something that was easy to use, required little oversight, and worked with the tools we already had in place.”
– Vladimir Weinstein, IT Director, Drury Design
The Solution: A Leave Management Tool That Works in the Background
Vladimir started looking for a tool that would:
✔ Allow employees to request leave quickly and easily
✔ Make team availability accessible company-wide
✔ Reduce back-and-forth between departments
✔ Integrate with Slack, the team’s main communication tool
When he found Vacation Tracker, the decision was easy. It took minutes to set up—and after that, it ran quietly in the background without needing constant attention.
“I set it up, checked the security, gave the appropriate team members access, and that was it.”
– Vladimir Weinstein, IT Director, Drury Design
The Results: Visibility, Accountability, and Fewer Bottlenecks
1. Leave Requests Are Timely and Easy to Submit
With the Slack integration, employees submit time-off requests directly in the tool they already use every day. This shift has significantly reduced late submissions and helped streamline the process.
2. Managers Can Approve Time Off Faster
Notifications go directly to the right managers, who can approve or decline with just a click. The approval process no longer causes delays in planning or scheduling.
3. Availability Is Clear Across the Company
Even though departments always had a sense of who was available, that knowledge now lives in a system that everyone can access. No more scattered updates or second-guessing.
4. No More Hunting for Leave Balances
Employees can instantly check their remaining leave in Slack or the Vacation Tracker dashboard—no need to log into external systems like the PEO site.
5. Seamless Integration with Lasso.io
Using Vacation Tracker’s API, Drury Design connected leave data with Lasso.io, their event planning system. This eliminated manual updates and ensured scheduling was always accurate.
A System That Supports a Fast-Moving Team
By switching to Vacation Tracker, Drury Design replaced scattered processes with a streamlined, automated solution. Teams move faster. Managers make informed decisions. Employees stay accountable. And best of all, IT and HR spend less time chasing paperwork.
If your company is growing and you're still managing leave through outdated tools, take a page from Drury Design’s playbook—there’s a more efficient way forward.