Vacations — A Dream for the Working Class?
Life has become so hectic nowadays, that the idea of vacations has almost become a luxury. With people working non-stop for 5–6 days a week being jam-packed with errands to run, it’s no wonder that many tend to put off their plans for vacation just another day or month and sometime year. Why is vacation important for us and for our organizations? It almost sounds like a trick question, until we start thinking more critically.
We can probably rattle off several easy answers, from simply complying with labor laws in Pakistan or elsewhere to reasons like the need for a break, the importance of quality of life and spending quality time with family — all of those work-life balance essentials. But when we start looking at the numbers and learning how taking time off impacts things at a business level, we’ll understand why vacation time — and developing the right vacation policy — is critical for both organisations and their employees.
The Damaging Effects of Not Taking Vacation
Research defines job burnout as “a special type of work-related stress — a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity”. Not only does burnout reduce the satisfaction employees feel in their jobs, but it can rob them of satisfaction in their personal lives as well. This is likely because as employees spend more hours at work, work comes to define more of their existence, and eventually, personal life and professional life become one and the same.
Derek Thompson of The Atlantic sums it up fairly well with a new term for America’s zealous devotion to overwork: “Workism”. As modern societies participate less in religious and other social organizations, more of us are turning to the workplace as a source for meaning and purpose in our lives. I’ve interacted with so many corporate executives over the years who very proudly say that they haven’t taken time off for vacation for so many years. They may be trying to demonstrate their loyalty towards their organisations. On a serious note, they should be seriously worried about their health and family lives. Is this healthy for employees? And is an employee’s deeply-rooted devotion to work healthy for an organization? Well, when that devotion goes too far, the answer becomes a resounding no for both parties.
It’s not just about loss of employee engagement. The long-term impact of burnout can be devastating to employees’ entire lives, with such symptoms as:
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
- Sadness, anger, or irritability
- Alcohol or substance misuse
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Vulnerability to illnesses
So, while it’s natural to assume that dedicated employees are a boon for an organisation, it’s also wise to consider the possible drawbacks that can come from over-dedication. One of the ways you can prevent the former from turning into the latter is with a well-designed vacation policy.
Why Employees don’t take Vacation?
While we’ve mentioned workism as a possible cause for taking less time off, employees who underutilize their vacation time may be doing so for any number of reasons. To name a few:
- Financial concerns about the cost of vacation
- Managerial pressure to meet deadlines
- Guilt over the additional workload upon return or on coworkers
- Peer pressure to appear dedicated
- A spouse or loved one unable to travel or take time off
- Fear of job security
- Health issues
Even when employees do take vacations, they may not be getting the full benefit. Almost half of Americans say they check in on work while on vacation, and over a third say that our constantly-connected culture makes it difficult to stop thinking about work, even on days off.
Benefits of Vacations
Mayo Clinic goes on to list employees who are at risk for job burnout, and the list includes many descriptors of workism:
- An employee has a high workload, including overtime work
- An employee tries to be everything to everyone
- An employee feels they have little or no control over their work
- An employee’s job is monotonous
An employee identifies so strongly with work that they lack balance between work life and personal life
If workism leads to burnout, and burnout leads to health problems, disengagement, and poor performance, how do you create a culture that discourages workism in employees?
Take Aways
Needless to say, that we’re a hard-working nation, yet our worries of job security remain as number one on our mind and when we combine that work ethic with financial worries, work pressures, and the always-on culture that’s only gotten stronger over the last decade, vacation can seem like an impossible dream for many of us. At the organizational level, burnout is a productivity destroyer. While it might seem obvious that burnout would cause an employee to become disengaged from their work, research shows that the link between burnout and engagement is so close that the two concepts are virtually indistinguishable from each other. And when engagement declines, so does the bottom line.
But when we understand how important vacation is for the health and wellness of people and organizations. The final take away is that we should always take at least some time for ourselves to relax and enjoy life.
About the Author
Muhammad Sajwani is the Founder and Managing Director of Evolve HR which aims at transforming, enriching and evolving Human Capital of Pakistan, Evolve HR thrives in challenging assumptions that hinder organisational aspirations, by creating innovative solutions that yield maximum impact, scalability & benefit to a wider base of stakeholders. As a Business Coach and Organisational Consultant, Sajwani knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.
