When was the last time you encouraged your employees to use vacation days?
The benefits of vacation can’t be denied — if you’ve ever looked at the face of an employee who recently returned from vacation, you know how relaxed they look. On the other hand, workers who don’t get to take time off are often exhausted and negative, which can spread throughout an organization quickly.
Worse yet, it can lead to burnout and even quiet quitting.
On average, Americans aren’t great about taking all their vacation days. In fact, by the end of 2021, Americans had 9.5 unused vacation days left, according to a 2023 January study by Qualtrics, a software company. For companies looking to promote a healthy work-life balance, a vacation is a necessity for employees to have.
Don’t let that happen to your workers. Vacations are the perfect time for employees to take a much-needed break and renew their energy — mentally and physically.
If you’re not sold on the benefits of vacation, you’ll find all the research below that backs why employees do better when they can enjoy quality time off.
Why Your Employees Need a Vacation
If you’ve ever tried doing a mentally-challenging task after a long day of work without breaks, you know how challenging it can be. Not only are you physically drained, but you feel emotionally drained as well and your mental state isn’t as strong. It can lead to errors and even displeasure over the task, no matter how small.
That’s the same way it is for employees who go far too long without a vacation. A real vacation allows workers to recharge and break away from monotonous day-to-day work schedules.
Just as important is ensuring that workers make time for small breaks to disconnect from work. As proven during the pandemic, workers who feel the need to respond and be “on” all the time for work have a higher risk of burnout, especially if they work from home, according to an article from the Harvard Business Review.
The Top Benefits of a Vacation
If you want to help your workers prevent burnout in the long-run, encourage them to use their vacation days. Yale University reports that finding moments to unwind — AKA the whole point of vacation! — is essential to boosting wellness and health.
Research also shares that taking the time to relax purposefully can cut stress, reduce muscle tension, and improve brain function and memory. All of those areas certainly boost health and make a person feel better both mentally and physically, proving the health benefits of taking a vacation are worthwhile.
A few more reasons to encourage vacation days:
Time Off Reduces Stress
No surprise here: Time off work leads to lower levels of stress. For many, that’s a huge part of being able to relax on vacation. When you aren’t staring down your massive work to-do list, it often has a calming impact, right? One study by the American Psychological Association found that because vacations remove activities — and environments – employees normally find stressful, they feel much more at ease.
Related: Why You Don’t Want to Let Employees’ Work Rollover into Weekends
Travel is Good for the Heart
A good vacation escape is good for the heart. In fact, one nine-year study found that those who took annual vacays were less likely to die from cardiac events, including heart attacks, according to the American Heart Association.
Nature Trips Are Particularly Beneficial
If you really need to de-stress, consider getting outdoors for your trip. Being outdoors and breathing in fresh air and exploring nature decreases the body’s stress hormone. Plus, sunlight is known to help with fatigue and low mood — which is why getting outside if you’re mentally struggling at work can have a rejuvenating effect.
On another note, workplaces that incorporate those natural “green” elements can boost employees’ overall energy. In fact, workplaces that do so have seen a 15% increase in creativity compared to those that don’t!
Improves Sleep
You aren’t dreaming; you actually do get a better night’s sleep when you go on vacation. That’s because vacations put people in settings that interrupt their normal habits that often mess up sleep rhythms — such as working late into the night in bed on a laptop. It may be one of the best health benefits of a vacation as quality sleep leads to improved immunity, too.
Don’t Overlook the Benefits of Time Off For Your Workers
Time off is as necessary as your employees getting a regular paycheck.
If you want well-rested, productive workers, don’t let employees continuously have unused vacation days by the end of the year. A rollover policy is great for workers planning their big trip for the following year, but if it happens where a lot of workers are doing the same rollover, consider whether you have enough vacation time offered to begin with.
A few tips to ensure your workers can enjoy vacation:
- Encourage vacations quarterly - While many workers with kids may opt for winter or summer vacations, try asking workers to consider vacations during less busy times at work. This will help them relax and their colleagues won’t be so overwhelmed when they leave. Plus, it usually costs less to travel when it’s not the peak travel season!
- Cross-train your staff - When possible, cross-train your staff to be able to do similar tasks while their colleague is away, if necessary. This is where allowing access to shared collaboration files can be incredibly helpful. Notes for where projects are at can also be useful for those picking up the work, too.
- Have them put an autoresponder on - Ask workers going on vacation to put their email away message on. This lets clients know they’re out and it can also provide valuable information like a secondary contact.
If your company culture touts well-being and work-life balance for its workers, a vacation every year is a part of that. Allow your employees to schedule that restorative time on their calendars without having to deal with any negative repercussions as a result.
Relaxing is a must.
As a leader, make sure you are doing the same and setting a good example by taking those valuable vacation days.
How does your company handle vacation days? Do you feel your employees are more relaxed coming back to work afterward?
