ARE YOU GOING ON VACATION THIS SUMMER?

It is officially the start of Summer 2019!

Are you going on vacation this summer?  Are you going to RELAX while on vacation?  This is an important question and one that both employers and employees need to give more thought to.  Only 53% of U.S. workers say they relax on vacation to come back feeling rested and rejuvenated.  And 30% feel work stress during their vacation, keeping those Blackberries and cell phones within reach, no matter where they go or what they're doing. Sufficient rest time is vital for maintaining a top-performing work team and keeping productivity high.  Create an environment where people can take time off without the stress of work following them to the beach or the roller coaster.  By eliminating key-person dependencies, you also reduce your risk of attrition. Many banks require their tellers and executives to take at least one vacation of two continuous weeks off and totally disconnected from bank systems.  It is designed to prevent theft and fraud, but it goes a long way towards reducing stress as well. And it applies to weekends as well.  None of us have a seven-day-a-week job, but many of us work seven days.  Sure, all of us have put in some extra time on the weekend from time to time.  But being able to unplug during the weekend will go a long way toward maintaining a high-functioning team throughout the entire year.

As an employee, you need to make sure that you are not encouraging 24/7 behavior by your employer. Set boundaries and make sure people know that you are going to be out and unreachable/unavailable with sufficient notice to help mitigate any out-of-office crises during your absence.  Work-Life balance is your responsibility too!