“Are you overworked and undertraveled?”

What?   You’re thinking of skipping your vacation again this year?

Americans are among the hardest working people in the world…and receive the fewest vacation days from our employers.  So why is it that every year Americans throw away an estimated 415 million vacation days by skipping their vacation! Tanveer Naseer is a leadership coach, speaker and writer and the founder of a leadership coaching firm. If you are in a leadership role at your place of work, not taking time off from work can prove to be more harmful than beneficial for you or your organization, he wrote in a recent blog. Naseer posted four reasons why youshould be going on vacation this summer.

1. Revive your productivity and with it, your team’s

We all know that small breaks throughout the day help us over the short term, but it’s vital that we take longer breaks from work to sustain and even build our creativity and productivity, says Tanveer. He goes on to say that “Being away from your work environment for a longer period of time will help you gain a fresh perspective about your work, as well as providing you with the opportunity to pursue your other interests.” By skipping your vacation, you can have a negative effect on the organization’s morale. It creates frustration and resentment and makes the rest of the team think that if the boss isn’t taking a vacation then maybe they better not take one either.

2. Vacation time is part of your compensation; it’s not a job “perk” 

Remember when you applied for the job? Weren’t your allotted vacation days per year part of the compensation package? Tanveer says that vacation time is part of your remuneration for doing the job; it’s not a “perk”. It’s a return on the investment of our time and expertise in helping our organization to reach their objectives. Would you not accept a monetary bonus at the end of the year? Of course, you would!  That’s how we need to think of vacations.

3. Serve as a role model for others in your team

Whether you are in a leadership role or an employee, you need to take a vacation! Employees will look to their leaders for guidance on what is allowed and what is frowned upon. What you model at work will determine what your employees do. Despite the workloads that may be building on your desks, it still very important to take time off work in order to maintain your effectiveness in your role.

4. So whether you’re in Bora Bora, Paris or Hawaii, show your team they can manage without you!

While we all like to think that we’re indispensable, the reality is we need to encourage the company’s growth and overall morale.

Taking time off from work will encourage team members to develop strategies and abilities that will help them learn how to effectively hold down the fort while you’re away. We need our leaders and employees to bring their best efforts to reaching the organization’s goals. And the best way we can encourage this is to make sure everyone takes their vacations so that they might bring a fresh perspective and new ideas on how to attain their shared goals.
While this article was written from the perspective of a person in a leadership role (AKA “the Boss”), suffice it to say that employees benefit as well from the four points made above. Hopefully, this will encourage you to understand why skipping your next vacation is so not worth it!

Let us help you bring fresh perspective and new ideas to your workplace by planning your next “Signature Escape”  today!  Your employer AND your family will be glad that you did!