The past few years have seen new innovative leave policies in several sectors. Well recognized brands have increased their leave policies and some have even created unlimited leave policies.
Unfortunately, even though a healthy number of organizations are offering employees more time off, few are taking advantage of their new benefits.
Americans are well known for not being offered as much time off as their first world counterparts. But then again, few Americans take all the leave they are given.
So is it a surprise that a new survey by The Creative Group (TCG) shows that employees if offered an unlimited leave policy say they probably won’t take any more time off than they have historically? According to the report, “a majority of executives (72 percent) and workers (56 percent) said the amount of vacation they would take would remain the same if there were no limit to their personal holidays.”
This has got to be a head-banging survey for human resources professionals. Data exists that shows that refreshed, happy and healthy employees are more productive and retain better. There is also a small movement towards providing employees with more flexible schedules and more time off. And what do they do with these new found benefits?
They don’t use them! It’s enough to make a talent manager’s head explode.
Is there a solution for moving our workaholic society towards more healthy and perhaps more productive habits? TCG believes there is and it has to do with leading by example.
Diane Domeyer, executive director of The Creative Group, says that “managers should lead by example, taking time off themselves and encouraging their staff to do the same.”
It will be interesting to see if the trend towards more liberal leave policies and a Millennial generation that claims to want a healthy work/life balance will translate to a nation that is out of the office more often.
