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Employees are the most important resource of a company. This is true for internal and external staff as well as for workers and managing directors.

General helpful sources from my point of view:
Being the Boss - The Craft of Managing People, L. Kent Lineback
Competence at Work - Models for Superior Performance, Lyle Spencer & Signe Spencer

At first get your staff on board. Key players first. Better leave a position unoccupied than to hire a low performer.

A good book on hiring (but do not follow blindly):
Sharkproof, Harvey Mackay

If your people are hired let them plan not only their work but also their vacation! You cannot avoid vacation unless your project has a very high priority and a short time to delivery. By the way: An exception is a merger or a substantial down-sizing of a company. Do not let any key player have a vacation before you finalized your project plan!