Want a Promotion or a Raise? Then Take a Vacation.

Americans and the Vacation Struggle

A recent Harris poll ?shows the American workforce, from the C-Suite executives to the Front-Line Team Members, continue to struggle with taking their Paid Time Off, especially all their vacation time. This results in employees using only 54% of their annual accrued PTO!

Why doesn’t the American workforce use 46% of the PTO?

A 2023 study by the Pew Research Center entitled How Americans View Their Jobs reveals employees don’t use all their PTO because:

1.??? 49% are afraid of falling behind at work and struggle to disconnect from work when they do take time off because of the pressure placed on them by their Team Leader.

2.??? 43% feel bad about having co-workers take on additional work when they are off on PTO because leaders subtly make employees feel bad about using their PTO.

3.??? 19% think taking their PTO makes them seem less dedicated and hurts their chances for a promotion or a raise because their company’s culture discourages taking PTO.

4.??? 16% think, because their company’s culture glorifies long hours and overwork and doesn't actively encourage employees to use their PTO, taking their PTO makes them look replaceable and they fear losing their jobs.

Each of these “reasons”, cited by employees for not taking 46% of the PTO they have legitimately earned under their company’s PTO Policy, is indicative of a toxic company culture.?

Here’s my free coaching advice: If you are an employee working at one of these regressive organizations, please realize they do not have your best interests, or the best interests of your family, at heart. ?They will work you until you burn out and break down.? Instead of waiting helplessly for that inevitability, start creating your Exit Plan today. ?

For those toxic cultures referenced above, here are 4 good reasons why it will benefit the company to require all employees to use their PTO:

1. It’s the right thing to do!

2. PTO is good for your employees’ mental health: Research establishes PTO and vacations reduce stress, depression and anxiety. And since a mentally healthy Team Member performs better, the company benefits immensely when they can.

3. PTO boosts an employee’s job performance: A 2023 an?Ernst & Young study , reported in the Wall Street Journal article?The Secret to Getting Ahead at Work Is How Much Vacation You Use, shows employees who take 10 hours a month of vacation time display an average of 8% boost in their annual performance ratings.? Employees who perform better benefits the company.

4. PTO helps solve workplace issues: Incubation is a stage in the creative or problem-solving process in which attention (consciousness) is diverted from the task at hand and focuses on something else. After an incubation period, the unconscious may reward a person with an “aha!” solution to an issue. ?This means while an employee is sunbathing on the beach, their brain is still mulling over work issues in the background. This leads to solving workplace issues which leads to improving the company’s performance.

Here's a real example: I coach a Divisional Vice President who, while on a disconnected vacation (no contact with work for 10 days – and, shockingly, his Team didn’t implode!), used Uber extensively. Based on this experience, he saw the potential of using Uber for certain customer deliveries – an innovation for his industry. I’m sure some on you are thinking couldn’t he have had that same “aha!” moment without being on vacation? Maybe. But the work environment focuses on incremental improvements, – tweaking the existing processes to make them better, and not on “innovations” – a different way of doing things. Why? Daily challenges demand familiar solutions, not "thinking outside the box." Being at work requires employees, at every level of the company, respond to the daily fires with the tools already at hand. Few Team Leader, in the act of fighting a fire that could burn them or their Team, considers using a strange/different tool to fight that fire, much less thinking about how to avoid the fire. (BTW: The DVP is testing the “aha” moment to see if it work).

And now, 2 fun facts for those employees who believe the only way they can get a promotion or a raise is to forfeit 46% or more of their PTO:

1.??? As mentioned above, an?Ernst & Young study ?shows that for every additional 10 hours of vacation time you take, your year-end performance ratings can improve by 8%. ?And since performance is a criterion for promotion or a raise take your PTO!

2.??? Another 2023 study, also reported in the Wall Street Journal, in the article Your Summer Vacation Can Help Your Career, found employees who use all of their vacation time are promoted at almost twice the rate of people who use only half their PTO. ?Wow!? Now there’s a real incentive for taking all your PTO this year.

So, please don’t be like the 46% of employees who aren’t going to use all of their PTO in 2024. Take all your PTO but, especially, take all of your vacation days! You deserve it. Truly disconnect (no emails, no texts, no remote meetings) from work for 10 days and reconnect with family and friends. Embrace new experiences. Go someplace different. Remember, that margarita by poolside may inspire the next big idea that makes your job – and your team's – easier, more productive, and more enjoyable.? And it might even get you a promotion and a raise.

I could be wrong…but I’m not!

So, how much PTO are you not going to leave on the table this year?

?#postpandemicleadershipSME; #LeadershipDevelopmentSME; #leadershipSME