Sounds relaxing, doesn’t it? Do you look forward to the time away from work? Do you recognize how relaxed you will be when you return? Are you ready to tackle those new projects with 110% of your energy and focus?
Or, are you like lots of people that worry more about time OUT of the office than they worry about hours IN the office? A majority of employees face their greatest stress during the first few days back from vacation or the few days leading up to a vacation. All the work we attempt to handle in anticipation of our vacation leads to longer hours/extra days. Then, when we return, no one was doing our work while we were out so we have last week’s work to do ALONG WITH this week’s work! Or, worse yet, the blackberry and laptop become just another family member when we’re away.
Even the definition of vacation (thank you Merriam-Webster) sounds relaxing: “a period spent away”. For your own peace of mind, for your health and for the good of the Company – take your vacation! Set your self up for success while you are out and when you return – take advantage of “extended” voice mail message options; use the “out of office” automatic response in your e-mail systems. If you feel you MUST take calls, have one person take ALL your calls and only forward URGENT/CRITICAL calls to you. Only turn the phone on once a day or every other day.
Employers – encourage your employees to USE this benefit – it’s good for them AND it’s good for YOU by providing more relaxed, better focused employees who have had the opportunity to take a break! Anyway – didn’t you know? It’s vacation time!
Can’t decide whether you should convert to a PTO (Paid Time Off) process or an accrual system? We work through these every day and would be glad to have a conversation with you about your current program. Contact us for a free review of your vacation policy and we’ll send you a pre-published chapter from Karen Young’s new book “Stop Knocking on My Door – Drama Free HR for Your Growing Business!” coming out in the fall of 2015!
