¡Felices vacaciones! It’s About Relaxing, Recharging and Savoring Life
I have seen first-hand how team members productivity increases after a well-deserved break
On a recent trip to my hometown of Madrid, during the month of August, there were signs everywhere of just how seriously Spaniards take their vacations. This is the month that the bustling city becomes sleepy, while Madrileños escape the heat (and leave their regular responsibilities behind) so they can come back in September refreshed and renewed. The streets are empty, stores and restaurants are closed, displaying signs unapologetically letting everyone know (and even celebrating!) that they’re on vacation.[1]
I’ve been in higher education administration in the United States for almost two decades, and higher ed works year-round (yes, contrary to popular belief, we are not “off” during July and August). In fact, in some roles, availability needs to be 24/7, including during the summer months, even while most students are away, and faculty are focused on their research responsibilities.
Over the years, I have seen first-hand the toll that non-stop work takes on the people who make the institution run: the 12-month employees who have responsibilities year-round, and even the faculty who are constantly working on a paper or a grant proposal when they’re not teaching. Having seen the negative impact of non-stop work, I strive to encourage (and model) healthy habits related to taking leave. My best inspiration comes from a friend of mine who, at the very beginning of the calendar year, would deliver to his supervisor a complete list of all the times he’d be traveling over the upcoming 12 months. This friend was in a VP role, and had huge responsibilities, but he was quite adept at figuring out how to delegate his duties and make sure everything was covered while he was out of the office. This helped him disconnect, but it also had the great benefit of empowering his direct reports while he was unavailable.
Unfortunately, my friend’s approach is rare. Instead, what we see is many people in higher education (and in plenty of other sectors) who lose paid vacation days, because they can’t seem to find a way to take time off. Why is it that almost half of workers in the US take less time off than their employer offers? People worry that they might fall behind, that their co-workers may be burdened by their absence, or even that their time away could hurt their chances for advancement—all legitimate concerns.
Business Impact
In contrast, abundant research supports the normalization of time away from the office. People who take vacation have better well-being and are overall more satisfied with their lives, as well as show more creativity and have stronger job performance.
As a manager, you play a critical role in helping your team come up with strategies for using up their paid leave time. You can standardize what my friend used to do, by requiring your employees to provide their plans in advance, though that may not work for everyone. If you have mission-critical functions that need coverage year-round, work with your team to stagger who takes time off when, so that your business is covered but everyone has a chance to step away. I have found that the staggering approach really helps with cross-training and encourages team members to learn to rely on others without feeling guilty.
Maybe you have sufficient flexibility to adopt the Spain-in-August approach: coordinate for everyone to take the same one or two weeks off. Choose an appropriate time, and then be sure to let all your clients know that you won’t be available. But to do this well be careful to not place expectations on your employees to still make themselves available: don’t set deadlines that will require employees to work remotely through their vacation, don’t email your colleagues during their time off.
I have seen first-hand how much more productive members of my team are when they come back from a well-deserved break. It’s as if the time at the beach, the mountain, the museum, or even a simple staycation clears their mind and provides new insight and energy for their work. There is no single recipe for how your organization should approach promoting healthy leave-taking habits, but it’s clear that your employees’ and your organization’s (and your own!) health and productivity depends on it, so make the time to strategize. ¡Felices vacaciones!
[1] Spanish labor law requires all workers to have 23 workdays or 30 “natural” days of vacation per year.
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