There are about 3 billion people working in the world. But only 40% say they are happy at work. That means almost 2 billion people are not happy at work.
So, what does that mean to those people and the companies they work for?
Workers everywhere want the same thing – and that boils down to – how they are treated by their leaders or employers.
While many smart companies have embraced PTO, some others are still contemplating whether to implement such or not. Some forward-thinking organizations have taken a step further by implementing mandatory employee vacation. The imposed minimum time off for their employees is to control burnout for the ultimate result of improving productivity, quality of work, and employee retention.
Oh! What is PTO? Definitely not “Please Turn Over”.
PTO means “Paid Time Off”. This is a standard employee benefit in many companies where employees are allowed to take off at least one week or five consecutive workdays for rejuvenation.
Are your employees part of the “not so happy” 2 billion people or among the 40% happy workers?
In case you don’t know which category to classify them, let me show you some of the advantages of the mandatory vacation policy as it could help to spur your decisions of adopting such a policy.
1. It rejuvenates employers
Job burnout or emotional exhaustion due to stress at work most times do lead to reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity at times. Research had it that workers who take regular breaks or time to relax are less likely to experience burnout, this makes them more creative and productive than their overworked colleagues. For workers who take vacations regularly, they are often more focused and productive upon returning from vacation. Mandatory vacation pushes employee out of the office to get engaged with other things, this allows them to put work stress aside and focus on their life outside the office.
2. Offers time for review
Mandatory vacation policy allows the company to evaluate its workforce especially different positions occupied by the employee on vacation. It reveals a lot about the position of the employee when the person is gone. Also, it reveals if an employee is handling too much or not or if there’s a need to get more hands for effective and optimum results. This time is also the best to know how essential an employee is to the company.
3. Encourages cross-training
Cross-training is a very useful tool for companies to deal with challenges and unforeseen emergencies. It gives the junior workers a chance to gain experience and handle new responsibilities. This necessitates knowledge transfer between team members and ultimately decrease the risk of losing a key employee in case he/she leaves unexpectedly. Although cross-training has been a concept adopted mostly for management positions, with the rate at which things are changing, it should be adopted by all categories and not restricted to management positions alone.
So, this is not the question of whether to adopt the mandatory vacation policy or not. I believe the next step should be how to inculcate this policy and make it a standard as it helps a lot in the growth of an organization and ultimately leads to optimum productivity. Feel free to contact us, as we take you through several experiences in Nigeria. Do follow us on our pages: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube. We promise to give you the best and accurate information about Nigeria and Nigerians.