5 Ways to Make Sure Your Employees Take the Necessary Amount of Time Off

You’re finding that your employees are not using all earned time available to them. Earned time, vacation, and personal time go unused year after year and it is important that employees understand that it is necessary to separate themselves from work.

Making sure your employees take time off to get rested is vital in boosting a productive workforce and creating a more positive work environment. Employees are certainly entitled to these additional days off, but much of today’s workforce works under an assumption that the more time they spend working, the more valuable they are to the company and vice-versa. It may be difficult to discuss with your employees about their earned time but implementing just a few simple tips can start a positive trend.

1. Be a great example

Make sure you take your own vacations. As an example, and a leader, utilizing those vacation hours can showcase your own value on those hours away from the desk.

2. Make things easier

Provide your employees with an easy way to submit their requests for vacations.

3. Show you care

Get excited about your employees taking a vacation. Asking where they are headed for the week instead of commenting on how this will impact the company will allow the employee to separate themselves from work (and not worrying about what they will walk into when they return).

4. Make their time off even more valuable

Implement a strategy that ensures all earned time has been used. Stopping the year over year roll over for those vacation hours will spark urgency in using vacation times every year.

5. Help ease their fear

If you need to deny a request for vacation time, do so with empathy. Poorly worded statements regarding the reasoning behind a denial can deter the employee from taking their time off. Offer alternatives and reinforce the idea that they should take their vacation (just not at that time).

Following these few easy tips will be sure to impact morale in a positive way, boost performance, and increase efficiency within your workforce.