Planning staff holidays is a big task. They need to be planned well in advance and should be in line with the necessary occupation. However, staff holidays come with great benefits for both employees and companies that are well worth the hassle.
Find out why staff holidays are important and how they should be encouraged in this article.
The Benefits of Staff Holidays
At first glance, staff holidays might seem like a hassle. You might think: “How can an employee that isn’t working be beneficial for a company?” Employees who take their holidays enjoy lots of health benefits and this results in many advantages for your company as well.
Keep on reading to find out what staff holidays can do for your company.
Health benefits
There are numerous health benefits to be considered regarding staff holidays. If your staff has been working hard the holiday is a time for them to let go and focus on their mental well-being. This can prevent work pressure-related problems such as burnout. Giving your employees a break from work can also help to reduce stomach problems, headaches, or difficulty concentrating, resulting in healthier employees.
Holidays can be a big morale booster at work as well. A well-rested and relaxed employee will have a good influence on the overall mood of people on the work floor. Stressed-out employees cause the opposite and can negatively influence morale.
Furthermore, reduce stress by making sure that your employees know when they are expected back at work by using staff leave management software.
Company benefits
The company can benefit greatly from happy and healthy employees: Employees that take their holiday are much less likely to feel overworked, resulting in less sick leave. This, in turn, has a great positive influence on your company’s performance, and it is, therefore, well worth it to let your employees take their holidays.
In addition, employees that come back from their holidays are more productive. Taking a holiday and letting go of their work for a while can give them a fresh perspective on their tasks and increase their productivity. Seeing things from a new perspective can help the staff to solve problems more efficiently and come up with creative ideas.
How to Encourage Employees to Take Their Leave
Some employees love their job and sometimes don’t take sufficient leave. Spending too much time at work can cause stress and will eventually result in long-term sick leave, even if the employee loves their job. To stimulate the staff to take holidays, there are certain things that you could do.
Speak positively about taking days off
Some employees might be afraid to lose their jobs or other negative consequences if they take days off. The best way to counter this feeling is to talk about holidays openly. Ask your staff what their favourite destinations are. Make sure that your employees know that you encourage taking breaks, so that they don’t feel pressured to keep working. Besides talking about it, you could also stimulate employees to take their break by spreading news messages or emails about this topic.
Offer them extra benefits during their break
To show your positive attitude towards staff holidays, you could offer a wide variety of benefits that the staff can use during their holidays. Give them coupons for certain travel stores, restaurants, or for activities such as going to the movies.
Also, a good way to encourage taking time off is to allow your staff to purchase extra holidays. In that way, if an employee wants to take more days than they have left, they could sacrifice a bit of their salary to take extra time off.