Have you ever felt burned out at work after a vacation? I’m not talking about being exhausted from fighting with your family at Walt Disney World all week. I’m talking about how you knew, the whole time walking around Epcot, that a world of work was waiting for you upon your return.
What One Company Learned from Forcing Employees to Use Their Vacation Time
It’s become abundantly clear that vacation policies — especially in the United States — are broken. Employees often can’t take their vacation time, or spend too much time during their vacations checking in with the office, only to return to work feeling completely burned out. Even companies that have implemented progressive policies for unlimited vacation time find that employees simply don’t take the time off, because there’s too much social stigma and peer pressure to work more. SimpliFlying, a global aviation strategy firm of about 10 people, decided to experiment with making recurring, scheduled vacations mandatory. What happened? Creativity went up 33%, happiness levels rose 25%, and productivity increased 13%. While it’s early research, and a small sample size, the experiment tells a meaningful story about what happens when you give your employees space to recharge, make unexpected connections, and find quiet moments of inspiration and creativity.