Workers are sometimes dipping out of work during the day rather than taking a proper break when it’s needed.
Having an extended break away from your work is undoubtedly crucial to how you perform overall, as it has been linked, not only to greater job satisfaction, higher engagement and improved morale, but even has a range of health benefits, such as lower levels of stress, positive mental health and reduced instances of heart disease.
The working world is made up of contradictions. Take for example recent efforts to establish organisational work-life balance. While companies and employees place a higher value on strong culture now, compared to even just ten years ago, advanced communication technologies have essentially made us contactable nearly all of the time. Whether we are on the clock or not.
For Doug Dennerline, the CEO of performance management company Betterworks, organisational leaders can fall into a trap, where they lose sight of priorities and begin to equate hard work and results with complete engagement that skews work-life balance in favour of work.
“A lot of workplaces have unfortunately created a suffocating environment where taking time off feels like a bad thing, especially taking multiple weeks off at a time,” he told SiliconRepublic.com. “Many companies frown upon two to three weeks at a time, sending the wrong message about taking serious time off to recharge.
“Nobody wants to look like they’re not 100pc committed. So instead of using their well-earned time off, people are finding sneaky ways to decompress or feel pressured to stay ‘on’ even during the holidays. It’s not because they’re lazy, it’s because they’re human. And on top of that, this pressure is exacerbated by the ‘always available’ expectation sometimes caused by technology and remote work.”
The trend of ‘hushed holidays’, that is days when employees are not transparent about taking a step back from their usual workload, reflects a disconnect between the employee’s need for rest and wider company culture, Dennerline said.
What does it look like?
While some employees may enjoy a ‘hushed holiday’ because they don’t want to waste their annual leave during slow work periods, for example around the Christmas holiday period, many, according to Dennerline, fear that a lack of visibility or a push to completely unplug could make them vulnerable to job losses.
‘Hushed holidaying’ doesn’t necessarily mean that you are sipping cocktails poolside during the workday. It can manifest in a number of ways, for example, you may prioritise spending time at home with your family while managing your workload, periodically checking in online, answering the odd email and engaging in workplace meetings with your camera switched off.
For Dennerline, it can be a lose-lose situation for the employee as well as the organisation, as he is of the opinion that a company culture that fails to adequately support employees or encourage them to take what they are entitled to, can lead to decreased morale, resentment towards the employer, lower productivity and high staff turnover.
“PTO [paid time off] is crucial for employee wellbeing, which directly impacts company success. When employees can take time off to recharge and don’t feel guilty about it, they return to work more focused and productive. A culture that values time off helps attract and retain top talent, fostering a more positive and engaged workforce,” he explained.
Leaders need to lead
For Dennerline, it is possible that some managers are slightly out of touch when it comes to work-life strain and that they may not fully grasp how much pressure employees are under to be ‘always-on’ for fear of negative repercussions. Managers, he explained, have a responsibility to lead by example.
“If senior leadership takes time off, then others in the organisation are inclined to as well. We need to create environments where people feel safe taking a breath.” That means actually using our own vacation time, telling our teams it’s okay to disconnect and creating policies that support real human needs, he explained.
He is also in support of companies instituting culture strategies that focus on the employee experience, such as mental health days, mandatory time off, flexible PTO options and organisation-wide shutdowns. Regular check-ins would ensure that workloads remain manageable and everyone in the company feels supported.
For Dennerline, ‘hushed holidaying’ is a clear signal. “It’s employees saying, ‘hey, we’re struggling here’. As leaders, our job is to listen and create workplaces where people don’t feel like they have to be sneaky to take care of themselves.”
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