The Power of Vacation and Employee Wellness

If employee wellness isn’t at the top of your priority list as an employer, it’s time that you reevaluate your priority list. 

Caring about the well-being of your employees isn’t just the right thing to do, there’s also a very practical reason: unwell employees mean less productivity for your company. The biggest thing that an employer can do to help ensure employee wellness is to offer ample vacation days as part of their employment package. 

Vacation days allow employees to take time for self-care whether they need time with family, time to rest, or time to pamper themselves. However they recharge their batteries, vacation time is an integral part of that process for employees seeking better work/life balance. 

Benefits of Vacation Time

Offering vacation and encouraging employees to take it is actually mutually beneficial for both your company and your employees. It might seem counterintuitive that time away from work would be better for work as a whole, but it’s true. 

Here are ways that your employees taking vacation time can benefit your company:

1. Improved Overall Wellbeing

Workplace stress is real, and if that stress builds and builds, employees’ physical and mental well-being suffers greatly. Without time to step away and recharge their proverbial batteries, their poor physical and mental health will begin to show in the work they produce. Allowing employees opportunities to relieve stress and relax makes them more apt to be able to overcome future stressors. 

2. Increased Productivity

When an employee feels free of work stressors after taking vacation time, they feel more relaxed and able to give more attention to their work instead of their exhaustion. Productivity improves in employees who are given time to step away from work and they are more prone to return ready to dive back into their duties with renewed energy.

3. More Workforce Motivation

When your employees feel like they can achieve a better work/life balance, they are more motivated to do the work at hand knowing they will have opportunities to step away in the future. This feeling of balance leads to a happier workforce overall and a more pleasant work environment. 

4. Increased Retention

When employees find a workplace that respects their time and acknowledges the need for self-care and time away, employees tend to be more dedicated to that company. Knowing they are part of an organization that cares about them personally and doesn’t look at them as just another cog in the machine creates a sense of loyalty, making your retention rates higher and your budget healthier. 

5. Decreased Burnout

Burnout is a serious problem with a lot of different ramifications. According to a survey by Deloitte, as many as 84% of Millennials have reported feeling burned out at their current job. Adding a pandemic to the already rising burnout rates certainly didn’t help. Giving employees ample opportunities to step away and take a vacation from workplace stress reduces the risk of feeling burned out on a regular basis. 

What’s Next?

The benefits of vacation time are clear, and most employers offer some sort of PTO or vacation time to step away and recharge. But one problem remains: Not all employees take vacation time. 

We sometimes live in a culture where it seems those who work hardest are rewarded the most. However, what they are often rewarded with is burnout, fatigue, and longing for a new job. That’s why it’s important to not only offer vacation time to your employees but encourage them to take it as well. 

A study by Glassdoor found some startling statistics when it comes to taking vacation time. They found that the average employee in the U.S. only takes 54% of the vacation time they are owed. Additionally, only 23% of U.S. employees use all of their vacation time and 9% do not take any of their vacation time at all. 

This means that not all employees are taking advantage of the benefits taking vacation time can have on your well-being. But if you create a culture in your business where taking vacation time is encouraged and embraced by all employees, you can help employees feel more comfortable unwinding than they do in the grind. 

Are you looking for more ways the benefits you offer your employees can help both them and you? Complete Payroll’s blog site is the source for 100s of up-to-date articles that will help you with all topics related to HR and payroll. Visit us today to see what we have to offer!