The July 4th holiday traditionally marks the halfway point of summer (summer break from school for the kids) and is a time of family picnics, BBQs, and fireworks celebrating our Independence as a nation.
Sadly,
The new research from growth firm Movchan Agency, which surveyed 2,000 people, with the results published last month in Forbes. The report also found that one in four workers have bosses that demand they work while on vacation, and two-thirds of workers have experienced alarming physical health issues, such as chronic pain and a weakened immune system, caused by overworking.
Other studies have found the same alarming trend
Previous reports have found the same trend. In 2022, the Society of Human Resources (SHRM) reported that “Fifty-four percent of U.S. professionals said they are unable to unplug from work or do not believe they can fully do so while on paid time off (PTO), according to a survey of 20,297 respondents conducted in June for Glassdoor.”
SHRM also reported “A similar survey of 336 professionals by Korn Ferry found that 37 percent said they check in with the office multiple times a day. Only 8 percent said they never connect with work while on vacation.
“More than half (58 percent) said being away from the office stresses them out more this year (2022) than previously, according to Korn Ferry. The main reason, cited by 47 percent of respondents, is that staff shortages are leaving them with too much work. Half (50 percent) of professionals said they have cut short or canceled a vacation due to work demands.”
Workers who work on vacation have higher quit rates.
The SHRM article warns employers that staying connected doesn’t mean staying loyal. SHRM reports that a survey conducted in June of 2022 with 1,000 full-time employees found that working while on vacation makes people more likely to quit. The findings show among 52 percent who stayed very connected to work while on vacation, 71 percent followed through with their plans to quit. They’re more likely to be Millennials, members of Generation Z and caregivers, according to the survey from Visier, a people analytics firm.
A solution for everyone to unplug at work
While leading HR for Medtronic’s Coronary and Peripheral business in Santa Rosa, CA, in 2010, I noticed this same issue. I could not unplug from work while on vacation, which I accepted as an executive. But I heard repeatedly the same complaints from employees, including from job satisfaction surveys. They could not unplug from work while on vacation, checking email daily, responding to colleague and boss questions and demands, sometimes up to four hours a day.
The other business executives had the same complaint and were open to ideas. Something had to be done.
The something was to go back to an old practice from large manufacturing facilities. Have a facility-wide shut down for everyone except a small, core group of employees to respond to customers and others on special assignments such as year-end inventory or major maintenance projects. Bosses and colleagues can’t hassle employees on vacation when everyone is on vacation and off email. The idea was to have a week off that included a scheduled holiday and required vacation time from the employees’ vacation or personal holiday time. (Today’s Paid Time Off or PTO).
But when to do this? Three different times of the year were considered:
- The week of Christmas.
- The week between Christmas and New Year’s
- Fourth of July week.
The week most often selected was the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Most employees wanted to be off anyhow to enjoy the holidays and be with family and friends. Management had no issues with making plans to be shut down during this time and informing our customers and suppliers.
It was wildly successful. Upon their return, most employees commented on how restful it was not to have to check emails from work while on vacation, truly unplug, and come back to work refreshed. In fact, it was so successful that Medtronic offices in Minneapolis also followed the practice.
Employers can do this more than once a year. At a Honeywell business where I worked as the HR leader before Santa Rosa, we did this over two holidays: the week between Christmas and New Year’s and the week of July 4th. Again, it was wildly popular. Some employees with less than five years of experience and ten days of vacation requested not to take vacation over both periods for their important vacation planned with their families at other times of the year. We allowed this by assigning them to inventory or other duties during the shutdown periods.
The workforce and busy executives must be allowed to unplug, refresh, and recharge once or twice a year. There is plenty of time to implement this before the end of the year!
About Victor
Victor Assad is the CEO of Victor Assad Strategic Human Resources Consulting and Managing Partner of InnovationOne, LLC. He works with organizations to transform HR and recruiting, implement remote work, and develop extraordinary leaders, teams, and innovation cultures. He is the author of the highly acclaimed book, Hack Recruiting: The Best of Empirical Research, Method and Process, and Digitization. He is quoted in business journals such as The Wall Street Journal, Workforce Management, and CEO Magazine. Victor has partnered with The Conference Board on innovation research. Subscribe to his weekly blogs at http://www.VictorHRConsultant.com