Reposted from Tim Richardson

“I rarely take vacation.”

Badge of honor or red alert? Some professionals never take vacation. Or they do, but they take work with them when they should be relaxing. With easy access to technology, the separation of work and leisure is often blurred. Not only during vacation, but also after work hours. I’ve written about this recently because first of all its summer when most take a vacation and secondly because I have found more research on how vacations can help individuals and organizations be more successful.

After a keynote earlier this week, a sales rep approached me to say that for many years his mantra was to be first to respond to any request for a prospective customer. He went on to explain that he was accessible at all hours of the day, on weekends, and even while on vacation. He said that he believed the first person who responded had a higher probability of closing a sale. He was inspired to change this behavior and to live with more downtime. There’s a point we reach where more time doesn’t equate to more productivity. Of course, hard work and productivity are essential in today’s workplace, but that doesn’t mean we give up our personal time by being available around the clock. Routinely providing open access after-hours or during a vacation is a bad idea. Taking work on vacation defeats the purpose of time away. As a self-employed entrepreneur, I understand how difficult it can be to truly leave work at work, particularly when you are gone for an extended time. Yet the research doesn’t lie. A study conducted by Ernst & Young found that for every additional 10 hours of vacation time an employee took, their year-end performance ratings improved by 8%. Higher performance ratings can be directly linked to increased productivity and better business outcomes. Vacations can improve ROI. American Express reported that employees who took more vacation time had 31% higher job satisfaction and were 50% more likely to stay with the company. This ultimately means lower turnover rates. Vacations can save organizations money.

According to SHRM (the Society of Human Resource Management), the cost to replace an employee is approximately six to nine months of their salary. For a company the size of American Express, this can translate to millions of dollars saved annually in recruitment and training costs. Vacations can decrease turnover. According to a study by Project: Time Off, companies that encourage vacation usage see a 34% increase in employee productivity, a 30% increase in employee happiness, and a 25% increase in workplace health. With health care costs increasing dramatically, the savings can be monumental. Vacations can improve employee mental health. Intuit found that employees who took vacations were 50% more creative and productive once they returned to work. Higher creativity and productivity improvements can significantly impact revenue. Vacations can result in new ideas and innovative thinking. These studies are just a few examples supporting how something as simple as taking time off can pay huge dividends. Do you want your organization to be more successful and your team members to be more committed to their jobs?

Take a vacation and make sure your colleagues do the same.