Most Employees Who Are Being Promoted Are Likely to Be Those Who Normally Take & Go on Vacation

A lot of people believe in this strange idea that they're limiting their happiness and success when taking time off from work. They think this will send a negative message to their manager and slow down their career growth. I have been in this shoes before. But no more! According to this new research, it says that the exact opposite is true. Taking a vacation can surely increase the hope of getting a raise or a promotion.

A little more than a year ago, I started leveraging and patnering with a traveling agency and of course, talking with some HR leaders of many companies in Brazil to promote the business case for taking time off from work. Their new initiative Project: Time Off, is one of the most robust examinations of how vacations affect companies and employees alike. Their analysis has found that Brazilians’

employees are taking less vacation time than at any point in the last one decade and moreso, many companies are even advising thier employees to reduce the numbers of their days on vacations whereas, many companies don’t just do this . Why? According to Herick Napier, Director of Administration and finance, Ubiratan Santos, Agnaldo Souza, Managers of Project: Time Off at GR1, “Many people don’t take time off because they think that it will negatively impact their manager’s perception of them. But, that isn’t the case at all.”

Here’s a list of reasons why it just makes good business sense for you to just go on vacation when the time comes:

1. Going on vacation increases your chances of getting a raise or promotion. According to Project: Time Off, people who take all of their vacation time have more chance of getting a promotion or a raise than people who leave 13 or more days of paid time off on the table. That percentage may sound small (and it is a mutual relationship - correlation versus a relationship between cause and effect - causation), but it is the polar opposite of the idea that staying at work might mean getting ahead. It simply doesn’t.

2. A positive, engaged brain improves important business metrics. A research shows that when you are happy your brain can think positively, productivity improves by 33%, sales increase by 41%, creativity in a big form and revenues can triple. In fact, in the conclusion – Using a state of “Certain Intelligence,” “the greatest competitive advantage in the modern economy is a positive and engaged brain.” To be truly engaged at work, your brain needs periodic breaks to gain fresh perspective and energy. But mind you! Not all vacations are created equally. Taking into consideration a research that shows that the average vacation yields no improvement in people’s levels of energy or happiness when returning back to work. In these cases, it

wasn’t the time away that caused the negative or neutral impact, it could be the travel stress. In a study of over 175 travelers from around the world, Many of these travelers came back saying they were very tired. So this is a strong negative correlation between travel stress and happiness. However, traveling is good and it re-energizes us. 97% of vacations result in higher levels of happiness and energy if you plan very well before-hand: Firstly, plan a month or two months in advance and prepare your coworkers for your time away, Secondly, go outside your city (the farther the better, Thirdly, met with a local host or other knowledgeable guide at the location, and Fourthly, have the travel details set before going. All these hints will give you more comfort, confidence, happiness and tranquility during your trip which will result to a Strong willingness and excelente performance when you get back to work. Smart vacations lead to greater happiness and energy at work, and therefore, greater productivity, intelligence and resilience.

3. Your manager could perceive you as more productive. Most managers associate personal happiness with productivity. In fact, when asked what vacation time benefit would motivate managers to talk to their employees about using more vacation days, the top benefit was increased personal happiness (39%), followed by productivity (24%). Why does happiness win out? Because most managers understand that happy employees are more productive, collaborative and have more willingness to perform their duties accordingly at work.

4. Taking time/day off is a matter of giving yourself health assurance versus financial necessity. Mind you! Life is finite, and work is infinite. So whether or not you take a vacation, you are still going to have a lot of work to do. Many employees even talk to their bosses that they have a lot of work to do, so they wouldn’t like to go on vacation when they are supposed to,...but if the organization’s

vacation-based culture doesn’t permit this? Then, In that case, it’s time to come together with your coworkers and create a new social script that says: “Of course we take all our paid days off, because we want greater happiness and success at work.” This gives everyone license and the right to benefit from time off. Once the social script allows it, your decision to become happier becomes much easier.

So, start planning your next vacation. It’s good for you, and your career, it’s better for your family and even though, it’s the best for the company.

Don’t forget to turn on your ‘’out-of- office messages’’ when next time you’re set to go on vacation.