{"id":56151,"date":"2023-01-20T08:00:47","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T13:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=56151"},"modified":"2023-01-20T14:04:15","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T19:04:15","slug":"how-to-encourage-employees-to-take-time-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/how-to-encourage-employees-to-take-time-off\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Encourage Employees to Take Time Off"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Unless your management style is modeled on Mr. Burns from <em>The Simpsons<\/em>, you probably want engaged, happy, and productive workers. Since studies show that a business can benefit when employees actually take their vacation time, it makes sense for organizations to reflect on what they can do to encourage their staff to take time off.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/link-hoang-UoqAR2pOxMo-unsplash-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-56155\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/link-hoang-UoqAR2pOxMo-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/link-hoang-UoqAR2pOxMo-unsplash-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/link-hoang-UoqAR2pOxMo-unsplash-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/link-hoang-UoqAR2pOxMo-unsplash-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/link-hoang-UoqAR2pOxMo-unsplash-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/link-hoang-UoqAR2pOxMo-unsplash-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/link-hoang-UoqAR2pOxMo-unsplash-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/link-hoang-UoqAR2pOxMo-unsplash-50x33.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p>There are many reasons <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/why-hard-to-ask-for-time-off\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">workers are reluctant to take time off work<\/a>. Some of them are personal, but many are directly related to the work environment. When employees are asked why they don\u2019t use up their vacation time, they often mention things like:<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Fear they won\u2019t have a job to come back to if they take a break<\/li>\n<li>Worry that they\u2019ll be too overwhelmed with work when they return<\/li>\n<li>Not having enough available vacation time<\/li>\n<li>Feeling no one else at their company can do their tasks<\/li>\n<li>Workplace pressure to prove they are irreplaceable, or to remain available even while they are out of office<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Yet there are real advantages to your business if you support your employees taking a break from work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shrm.org\/resourcesandtools\/hr-topics\/employee-relations\/pages\/workers-taking-more-vacation-.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Project: Time Off research<\/a> found employees rate paid vacation as the second most-important benefit, after health care.\u202fYet people feel the work culture doesn\u2019t encourage them to actually use that benefit.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cTwo-thirds of employees say they hear very little about [using] vacation time from their companies,\u201d Katie Denis, the project\u2019s senior director told Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). \u201cThat silence creates a vacuum, and we fill that vacuum with our anxieties and assumptions about what our bosses and colleagues could think about our vacation time.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>This leads directly to the first of our suggestions of ways to create a culture that demonstrates it really is OK to go relax and rejuvenate:<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>#1. Communicate expectations<\/h2>\n<p>Project: Time Off found that employees at companies that support vacation are happier at work and more likely to use their vacation time. You can achieve this by making vacation planning a priority. Encourage your managers to let people know not only how much vacation time they have available, but what steps would be taken to support that person\u2019s workload in their absence.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>#2. Model willingness to take time off<\/h2>\n<p>If your boss never takes a day off, how confident do you feel asking for your own time away from work? As with most areas of business, it\u2019s more about what you do than what you say. <a href=\"https:\/\/innovationmanagement.se\/2019\/01\/17\/why-its-vital-for-business-managers-to-take-vacation-days\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Managers need to take time off<\/a> and set (and follow) boundaries while they are away. This can show employees that the organization truly values time spent away from work.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/yousef-alfuhigi-bMIlyKZHKMY-unsplash-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-56156\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/yousef-alfuhigi-bMIlyKZHKMY-unsplash-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/yousef-alfuhigi-bMIlyKZHKMY-unsplash-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/yousef-alfuhigi-bMIlyKZHKMY-unsplash-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/yousef-alfuhigi-bMIlyKZHKMY-unsplash-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/yousef-alfuhigi-bMIlyKZHKMY-unsplash-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/yousef-alfuhigi-bMIlyKZHKMY-unsplash-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/yousef-alfuhigi-bMIlyKZHKMY-unsplash-40x50.jpg 40w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/yousef-alfuhigi-bMIlyKZHKMY-unsplash-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2020\/06\/managers-encourage-your-team-to-take-time-off\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Harvard Business Review<\/a> columnist noted, \u201cOthers are more likely to follow when company policies express \u2014 and your behaviors demonstrate \u2014 what you most value.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>#3. Review your vacation policies<\/h2>\n<p>Many businesses have moved more recently to general paid time off (PTO) policies. Moving away from differentiating between vacation and sick time makes time off easier to administer for both you and your employees. <a href=\"https:\/\/cbri.com\/5-evolving-trends-regarding-employee-time-off-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SHRM<\/a> found that this approach to time off also resulted in fewer unscheduled absences, likely because it alleviates the burden on the employee to prove illness.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Offering floating holidays instead of giving people breaks on predetermined dates can also help. As your workforce grows more diverse, people may start to mark holidays that are not on the business\u2019s calendar.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>#4. Provide vacation stipends<\/h2>\n<p>Yes, really, we\u2019re suggesting that you pay your people to take a break. Of course, this won\u2019t work for every organization, but it can encourage those individuals who are worried about the financial impact of taking a break. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.compt.io\/employee-travel-stipends-vacation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel stipend program<\/a> can also help attract talent. Plus, you may see:<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Fewer sick days and reduced use of healthcare benefits<\/li>\n<li>Greater employee job satisfaction and productivity<\/li>\n<li>Fewer workers\u2019 compensation claims filed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>#5. Revisit vacation duration<\/h2>\n<p>Many times people feel they can\u2019t be away from work for an entire week (let alone two!) But if you encourage your people to think about taking shorter breaks more often, they will still get the benefits of rest and relaxation. And so will your business, as you\u2019ll benefit from employees&#8217; improved mood, greater cognitive capacity, and even increased reaction time.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>#6. Hold a company-wide self-care day<\/h2>\n<p>Returning to the &#8220;actions speak louder than words&#8221; principle, what better way to demonstrate the value of disconnecting from work for a day than an organization-wide self-care day? Inviting everyone in the office to take the day off, without any pressure to attend training or complete work, can be a good way to model the importance of work-life balance.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>You might also create a <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.namely.com\/most-unique-company-holidays\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">company holiday<\/a>. For example, annually celebrating the day your business was founded. Or you can have some fun and give people Day After the Super Bowl off, or mark Food Coma Day the day after Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>#7. Don&#8217;t reward work martyrs<\/h2>\n<p>You want to reward the people who are stress-free and well-rested. They are more likely to be doing their best work. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shrm.org\/resourcesandtools\/hr-topics\/employee-relations\/pages\/work-martyrdom-the-road-to-burnout.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">work martyr<\/a> is more likely to lack boundaries, work constantly, and always be wanting to do \u2018more.\u2019 This person can be frustrated when they don\u2019t get that bonus or that promotion. Yet, they are more likely also to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/employee-burnout-trends\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">irritable, angry, easily frustrated<\/a>, and resent their colleagues.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Instead, identify your work martyrs and find ways to encourage (possibly even force) those employees to take time off.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Also, it can help to hold one-on-one meetings with your employees to talk about their vacation balance and provide ideas of when and how they could take a break.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Cultivate a culture that encourages employees to take time off<\/strong> by also being a workplace that <em><strong>listens<\/strong><\/em>. Understand your employees&#8217; current perspective and what obstacles they face when it comes to taking a break. Want to get started? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Request a free\u202fdemo<\/a>\u202f of our employee feedback solution, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/employee-experience-platform\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SogoEX<\/a>, today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unless your management style is modeled on Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, you probably want engaged, happy, and productive workers. Since studies show that a business can benefit when employees actually take their vacation time, it makes sense for organizations to reflect on what they can do to encourage their staff to take time off. There are many reasons workers are reluctant to take time off work. Some of them are personal, but many are directly related to the work environment. When employees are asked why they don\u2019t use up their vacation time, they often mention things like: Fear they won\u2019t have a job to come back to if they take a break Worry that they\u2019ll be too overwhelmed with work when they return Not having enough available vacation time Feeling no one else at their company can do their tasks Workplace pressure to prove they are irreplaceable, or to remain available even while they are out of office Yet there are real advantages to your business if you support your employees taking a break from work. Project: Time Off research found employees rate paid vacation as the second most-important benefit, after health care.\u202fYet people feel the work culture doesn\u2019t encourage them to actually use that benefit. \u201cTwo-thirds of employees say they hear very little about [using] vacation time from their companies,\u201d Katie Denis, the project\u2019s senior director told Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). \u201cThat silence creates a vacuum, and we fill that vacuum with our anxieties and assumptions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":4963,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,156],"tags":[921,164,655,577,589,210],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Encourage Employees to Take Time Off - Sogolytics Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Taking time off isn&#039;t just beneficial for the employees, it&#039;s beneficial for the companies too! 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Here&#039;s all you can do about it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/how-to-encourage-employees-to-take-time-off\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-20T13:00:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-20T19:04:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Customer-Satisfaction-Survey@3x.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"476\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"714\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jenn Goddu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/how-to-encourage-employees-to-take-time-off\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/how-to-encourage-employees-to-take-time-off\/\",\"name\":\"How to Encourage Employees to Take Time Off - Sogolytics Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-20T13:00:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-20T19:04:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e279d58fbb23148c5be4fdcb53b4a454\"},\"description\":\"Taking time off isn't just beneficial for the employees, it's beneficial for the companies too! 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