A working life is long. The average professional puts in at least 40 labor years before retirement, and the only real down-time is a few weeks of annual holiday. It’s no wonder, then, that stress and burnout are among the biggest problems for high-achieving workers. What if you could take an extended break from the office now and then – at no risk of losing your job – to enrich your life, spend more time with family, help others, learn a new skill, or simply recharge?
Many firms, including 25 percent of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For, now offer sabbaticals. These typically four- to 10-week pauses allow employees time out to focus on their needs instead of the organization’s.
The majority of workplace sabbaticals are paid or partially paid. Even when they are not compensated, though, these breaks provide companies a way to keep their best staff happy.
It’s not selfish to take a sabbatical if it makes you better at your job. Here are a few advantages a much-deserved break can give you:
You’ll Be More Motivated
Employees returning from a sabbatical are ready to bring their renewed energy back to the office. We all know that feeling of reinvigoration after a vacation.
But in the case of sabbaticals, it is possibly even greater because you usually have a longer time off and the full support of your company going into it. If you take your career pause for professional development training – broadly defined – you will be motivated to apply the new learnings to your job.
You’ll Boost Your Productivity
Research proves that when people put in more than 50 hours of work a week, their productivity drops, yet many executives clock longer hours than that. Cumulative stress caused by heavy workdays is the second-most reported health problem among European workers.
Sabbaticals are an excellent way to disengage from the non-stop pressure of a job to refresh and get a better perspective on your work-life priorities.
Even if you stay very active during your sabbatical, the fact that you are not performing daily office tasks encourages you to relax. The result is an invigorated, more productive “you” upon return.
You’ll Be More Likely to Stay
Most organizations offer sabbaticals to employees who have been there for a certain period of time (at least five to seven years is common), and employees may take multiple sabbaticals so long as they work a minimum number of years in between.
This provides an incentive for workers to remain at a company longer. Reports are that employees are far less likely to be lured away from their companies by other organizations within the first few years after they take a sabbatical because their loyalty remains high.
You’ll Have Better Ideas
Regardless of what a person does during a sabbatical – many use the time for travel, volunteering, taking a course, or caring for a relative – most find that disconnecting from the daily routine of work for a while gives them a new perspective about the business.
This infusion of fresh ideas after an employee returns can have big, positive consequences for a company. It’s why MeetUp, for example, gives employees the chance to take a three-month sabbatical after being at the company for seven years.
In one instance, a software engineer returned from a sabbatical in Berlin with an idea that led to the Silicon Valley-based firm opening a new software development office in the German capital.
You’ll Be Helping Your Company
Companies offer workplace sabbaticals not just as a means to reward loyal, talented staff. They also do it to enhance their recruiting efforts and public relations. Adobe Systems encourages its employees to use their breaks to do volunteer work.
Then they promote the good deeds in the Adobe Life magazine, a website directed at attracting new talent.
Companies that have formal career pauses advertise them as part of the benefits package, like Boston Consulting Group’s Time For You/Flexleave program, which allows workers with just 12-months of time onboard to take an eight-week unpaid break to recharge.
When you embark on a workplace sabbatical, you are also acting as a brand ambassador for your company, demonstrating to others you meet how your firm shows its appreciation for a job well done.
Though the number of structured workplace sabbatical programs might still be small, many firms are willing informally to consider offering paid or unpaid breaks to good employees whom they feel deserve some time to step back.
If this is your situation, you’ll have to build a business case for why you need a sabbatical and what benefits it will bring your employer. Use these five ideas above as arguments, then prepare a proposal on how the team will cover your workload while you are away.
On the positive side, there’s evidence that teams learn to function in new and better ways when they have to take on the responsibilities of the missing team member. It’s just more evidence that workplace sabbaticals are a good idea all around.
About the Author:
Kate Rodriguez is a freelance marketing copywriter based in Munich. She has over 20 years of professional experience in public and private organizations. A former international trade analyst for the U.S. government, she also worked as a university career coach, specializing in international career search. Most recently, she was employed at Experteer as a customer service agent and online marketing manager.
