Why should managers care whether employees take their vacation time? Isn’t it up to the employee to make sure they taking the time they need?

Vacation time is a time for rest and renewal, giving workers the opportunity to refresh the body, mind and spirit. When you take the time to refresh and rejuvenate, your physical body is better prepared to perform, the mind has more clarity and the spirit is allowed to function at a higher level.

What does this mean for performance in the workplace? Well, as we all know but sometimes need to be reminded, our staff, when renewed, are more productive, have a lighter energy that allows them to better deal with difficult situations more, and allows them to support one another to function at higher levels.

Like a car, when operated without regular maintenance breakdowns will occur at the most inopportune times and the lifespan of the car will be greatly reduced. Without fuel and proper fluids the car will not operate. When you run a car to the point of breakdown, it generally costs more to repair than it would to simply maintain it on an ongoing basis.

People need regular maintenance too. When you don’t take vacation time, you miss out on the opportunity for renewal, leading to higher levels of stress, an increased risk for burnout, physical illness and mental exhaustion, and often leading to increased workplace accidents and incidents (including higher Worker’s Compensation Board fees). It can also result in increased use of employee assistance programs, increased absenteeism and use of medications (both prescribed and not). Overall, workplace moral and productivity go down, further adding financial loss to the organization.

Ultimately when employees do not have the opportunity to refresh, organizations may experience long-term implications such as higher turnover rates, which then bring on a whole host of additional costs including recruitment, training of new hires and additional lost productivity due to the learning curve of a new employee.

Your car has warning lights that let you know if fluid levels are low, if you need to have the engine looked at and so on. There are warning signs for people too. On an interpersonal level, employees will show lower morale, decreased ability to communicate effectively, and lower rates of productivity. Managers need to pay attention to these warning signs. Paying attention on a personal level and addressing warning signs as they arise will demonstrate that you, as a manager, care about the people in your organization and will deepen trust and relations with employees.

But don’t forget to track the numbers as well. I encourage organizations to do the math and gather the data on WCB costs, use of employee assistance programs as well as short-term and long-term disability programs, rates of absenteeism, productivity and turnover. Correlate these figures with information from your engagement surveys and/or exit surveys and use of vacation time. While a correlation does not necessarily mean cause, this data will give valuable information about the health and well-being of employees and the organization.

Remember that vacation time is not simply a perk, it is a necessary break from the everyday stressors of an increased workload and constant thinking process. Like a car, if we run our people for extended periods of time without attending to ongoing maintenance (vacation), they start to breakdown too. Vacation time is part of that ongoing maintenance for our body, mind and spirit, and without it people wear out, physically and mentally, and organizations pay the price dearly.

We know that healthy, happy employees are more productive, creative and innovative; work better in teams; and deal more effectively with challenging situations and are more resilient. Personal well-being is supported through taking regular breaks, and vacation is one of those regular breaks that help sustain a healthier, more well rounded employee who is better prepared to manage workload and work life more effectively and efficiently.

And one last piece of advice: managers, remember, this applies to you as well!

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