“ One of the reasons why employees feel reluctant to take vacations is because, based on the survey, six in 10 respondents report a lack of support from their boss on taking personal time-off.”
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“ One of the reasons why employees feel reluctant to take vacations is because, based on the survey, six in 10 respondents report a lack of support from their boss on taking personal time-off.”
h, New Year, it’ s my favorite holiday of all. Why, you may ask? It is because New Year is about second chances. It’ s the chance to put behind past mistakes, missed opportunities or painful disappointments. It allows us to pause, not only to find gratitude in our heart for the blessings the past year has brought us, but more importantly, to recalibrate our views of the future. In doing so, many of us create New Year’ s resolutions— a list that’ s notoriously made-to-be-broken but often needed, if only to remind ourselves to find happiness( read Conversations, page 24), eat healthier( read Mind, Body & Soul: Meeting the Nutritional Needs of Your Spa Guests, page 40) or break distractive habits( read Ask the Expert, page 52).
If you have already worked on your resolutions for the year, what’ s on top of your list? This year, I resolve to take more self-imposed vacations, especially after coming across research by Project: Time Off, a national movement that aims to shift culture toward the acceptance of taking time-off for personal well-being. Findings from the research show that 55 percent of surveyed respondents left vacation days unused in 2015. In total, that’ s an estimated 658 million unused vacations and US $ 61.4 billion of forfeited benefits. Given that personal time-off is a key employee benefit, this seems ridiculous to even imagine!
One of the reasons why employees feel reluctant to take vacations is because, based on the survey, six in 10 respondents report a lack of support from their boss on taking personal time-off. In fact, 80 percent of respondents said they would likely take more vacations had they felt fully supported and encouraged by their boss. Think about this for a minute: How are you communicating the importance of personal time-off to your team?
Good leaders know that part of putting employee well-being first( read Creating a Healthy Work Environment: Helping Employees Manage Stress and Avoid Injury, page 36) is allowing them to de-stress so they return to work recharged. Yes, for 2017, I promise to take more vacations so I may come home creatively recharged— but only if you do as well.
— MAE MAÑACAP-JOHNSON, SENIOR EDITOR @ ISPAPULSEEDITOR
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6 PULSE ■ January / February 2017