Open all doors.
You Need a Real
Vacation (And So Do Your Employees)
Laura Entis
Vacations are important. Done right, they can lead to
fresh perspectives,
creative insights and reduced stress levels. There's a
strong case to be made
that taking the time to unplug is not only beneficial for
our mental and physical health,
but may boost the health of our careers as well.
Unfortunately, according to a new survey by
rate-your-company startup Glassdoor,
most of us aren't taking very many of
them.
The survey found that the average U.S. employee only took
51 percent
of their eligible vacation/paid time off in the last
year. Fifteen percent didn't take off any time
at all, while a mere 25 percent of employees reported
using all of their allocated vacation days. And even when we're on vacation,
the survey revealed, most of us don't unplug:
Sixty-one percent of employees who took time off admit
that they did some work
while out of the office.
It's important for CEOs and managers to encourage employees
to use their vacation days,
says Scott Dobroski, a senior manager at Glassdoor.
"Vacation helps employees avoid burnout," he
says. "Taking time off can make them both
more productive and more satisfied when they return to
work,
which translates into higher retention rates that can
save a company thousands of dollars."
Those in senior positions should lead by example,
recommends Dobroski.
If a CEO is not taking any paid time off – or if she goes
on "vacation" but is still accessible 24/7 – she is making a clear
statement about how employees should treat their own vacation time.
And that's a shame, because there are real benefits from
taking a vacation
that's actually a vacation.
In the words of Sir Richard Branson"When you go on vacation, your routine
is interrupted;
the places you
go and the new people you meet can inspire you in unexpected ways."
Here are five more reasons why you and your employees
should unplug:
To empower and motivate employees. Leaving
the office for a week or two forces you
to shift major responsibilities to your employees.
"I have found that when entrepreneurs empower their staff, they are more
productive when their boss is gone," says Brian Miller,
the chief operating officer of AdviCoach, a provider of business
coaching to small companies.
To instil confidence in your employees (and for your own
peace of mind),
begin delegating tasks while you're still in the office.
That way, be it sales calls
or stocking inventory, employees learn the ropes before
they fly solo.
To get inspired. Richard Branson is a
strong proponent of getting away from it all.
"The places you go and the new people you meet can
inspire you in unexpected ways,"
he writes. "As an entrepreneur or
business leader, if you didn't come back from your vacation
with some ideas about how to shake things up, it's time
to consider making some changes."
To sniff out dysfunction. If
a majority of your employees are not using any of their vacation days, that
could be a red-flag says Andrea Herran, the founder of Focus HR,
a human resource consultancy. Is there some sort of
dysfunction there?
Is there a problem with the team? The employees may be
overwhelmed
or even staying put to cover up wrongdoing.
"Employees need to get away and recharge.
If they're not doing so, something could be seriously
wrong
and it could be hurting your company," she says.
To gain a new perspective. For
Crosby Noricks, a fashion marketing strategist
and founder of PR Couture, time off "actually fuels my creativity and
gives my brain space
to come up with better ideas, solutions to problems and
efficiencies that I can't always access
if I am operating at a furious pace.”
To disengage. Taking a break is
often seen as the lazy man's solution,
but that may be the wrong way to look at it, says Bonnie
Hayden Cheng, a PhD student
at the University of Toronto. Recently Cheng co-authored
a study which examined a group
of university students juggling work, family and academic
responsibilities.
Participants who practiced cognitive disengagement by
actively taking their minds off
their troubles and onto something completely unrelated
were better able to manage the tasks
at hand than those who tried to push through without
breaking.
That may sound counterproductive, but "Actively
taking your mind off the problems at hand actually helps manage multiple role
responsibilities and leads to increased levels of [work] satisfaction,"
says Cheng.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232766
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The more
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