Improve Your Time-Off Culture To Avoid Burnout

Encouraging time away creates a happier, healthier, and more engaged workforce

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, companies around the world transitioned to fully-virtual setups to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, leaving employees grappling with a new reality of work-life balance. Following advice to stay home, employees began cancelling trips and PTO en masse, according to data from Treehoppr. While PTO cancellation rates normally sit between 7 to 9 percent, the rates jumped to 21 and 24 percent in March and April, respectively. 

There may not be relaxing or destination vacations to book just yet, but employees still need time off to refresh, recharge and adjust to new pandemic-related needs, like childcare and screen-breaks. So how can HR teams give employees the space they need to recharge? By supporting and encouraging time off.

To make time away from work the most impactful for all parties, companies must foster a culture that encourages different types of time away from work, gives their team the tools to prepare for PTO and creates open lines of communication for managing workflows while out of the office.

Time off is critical for employee wellbeing, especially during a global crisis in which personal and professional lives are massively disrupted. Supporting PTO as a company also has proven benefits – 84% of managers find that their employees return to work with improved focus and creativity. 

Understanding that PTO is crucial for employee wellness and productivity, how can employers make sure that employees use this benefit during the pandemic? To start, break the stigma that PTO is only meant for vacations, travel and traditional holidays. This requires a cultural and procedural shift in how companies advertise and incentivize time off. 

However, employees will understandably want to save most of their traditional PTO for when vacations are possible. It is hard to break the mindset that using a PTO day at home is a ‘waste.’ To combat this hesitation, companies can create new out of office designations meant to emulate PTO, like Summer Fridays or new company ‘holidays’. These designations should be time-locked, unattached to PTO and require action. The point is to encourage at least a full day away from work to completely unplug, rather than trying to find a few pockets of the day to make time for themselves. This way, employees can still conserve PTO and companies can ensure that people are getting a chance to hit refresh.

Additionally, companies can offer additional, non-traditional time off designations that coincide with working from home and social distancing needs to show understanding of the new normal. These designations – like screen breaks, grocery shopping, family time and homeschooling – will make it easier to step away from work as needed. Companies have started to recognize the need for more work breaks, with one-third of Treehoppr clients adding new types of personal time to adapt to new pandemic-related needs. Giving employees the options to take the time they need will show that your workplace values them as employees and people outside of work. 

Taking time off can be daunting from a procedural perspective. From navigating schedules to preemptive anxiety over missing important deadlines, it’s hard to step away from work for an extended period of time. And because businesses are now under more economic stressors than ever before, employees are even more hesitant to take longer breaks from work. In April and May, the average PTO booking length decreased by 31% in April and May.

HR teams should make PTO processes more employee-friendly by providing the right tools to sync schedules, request time off, delegate projects and review activity that has happened in their absence. In the past, PTO tools prioritized tracking data, with databases used for payroll or performance options. However, upgrading to tools that support the PTO experience from booking to return will put employees’ minds at ease and allow for a seamless transition.

For small companies with tighter teams, it can be hard to take on additional work from employees on PTO. Tools that specifically lay out the responsibilities and next steps for people taking over projects will help keep team members from being overwhelmed with additional work and give them actionable tasks. For larger businesses, tools that track the progress of major projects – and show who is the temporary owner of each part while an employee is out of office – will help keep the group organized and moving forward. 

Offering employee-friendly PTO tools shows employees that PTO is for everyone – from entry level employees to executives. Everyone can have their work covered while they step away and be able to seamlessly catch up. By building a team-oriented culture and having PTO tools in place, people at all levels will see that your company is serious about encouraging PTO and will feel supported when stepping away from work.  

Communication around taking PTO and time off is important for ensuring that teams can operate smoothly while employees transition in and out of work. To streamline the process, HR teams should implement standardized policies for employees to update teams on the status of all projects, assign oversight and ownership, and note any pending deadlines prior to signing off. 

But in order to make this a boon rather than a burden, companies need to meet employees via the channels they frequently use – like Slack or Microsoft Teams. These channels are accessible, conversational and already top of mind, making them the perfect medium for communication around time off.

HR teams must set expectations for supporting a healthy time off culture, while also having clear, easy steps employees can take to make this happen. When it comes to communication, understanding ownership, project leads and deadlines are great places to start. Conveying the importance of doing the work on the front end will not only allow employees to feel like their work is being supported in their leave, but it will also help other team members feel competent in picking up where they left off.

As remote work continues, employers have the important responsibility of guiding and supporting their employees with time management, and making their work/life balance a priority. Cultivating a culture in which time off is a celebrated, encouraged aspect of work will lead to happier, healthier employees that are equipped to bring their best selves to work.