Employees that don’t take enough vacation time may be doing more harm than good. Your team members may be reluctant to take time off because they are afraid of falling behind, fear of missing an opportunity, or they are saving their PTO for a rainy day. Even if this is the case, encourage your team to take a vacations. Vacations not only give your employees a break, but have a wealth of other benefits. Below you will find a few reasons why your employees should be encouraged to take a well-deserved vacation.
Your team will feel more relaxed, productive, and happy.
One of the most obvious benefits of vacations is that they help you recharge. Vacations also help employees lean how to relax. For employees who lack the ability to relax, they will have a harder time handling stress at work further down the line. Taking time off also helps your employees to become more productive. Research has revealed that those who take more vacation time are more productive at work than those who take less.
Your team will be stronger in the long run.
Many team members have the worry that if they take time off, they could hurt their chances in getting a raise. However, there is no correlation between getting a raise or promotion and taking time off. In fact, taking time off of work, can help others see just how much you contribute to the team. Planning for a teammate’s absence can also strengthen the team bond as they plan who will cover what duties.
Vacations can help improve employees’ health.
Vacations are known for making you feel less stressed, but they can help your overall health and wellness too. According to a USTA Study, men who don’t take vacations are more likely to suffer from heart disease and women are more likely to experience depression. For the organization, staying healthy also means that fewer people will take sick days.
Vacations can help stir up innovations and creativity.
Time off is known for helping boost productivity and improve an employee’s performance at work. But did you know that getting out of the office can encourage creativity. While you employee takes a vacation, they may come back with the next big idea.
Bill Gates is known his “think weeks”, and comes back to work feeling more inspired than ever. It doesn’t always take a few weeks off to develop a great idea. For example, while vacationing in Mexico, Kevin Systrom came up with the idea of Instagram.