The Importance of PTO
Why encouraging workers to take time off makes good business sense
July 15, 2024
There is an irony to having paid time off (PTO). It can feel stressful to take it and equally problematic to not take it. Do you feel guilt and judgment in the air over not using all your vacation days? Pressure from loved ones to work less? Subtle and not-so-subtle messages that you are not modeling the right behavior by working too much and not taking care of yourself?
And, if you are like me, you might have experienced taking time off only to come down with a bad cold that takes you down for the count. Or you end up juggling work while you are supposed to be with loved ones, which creates stress. And my all-time favorite: the amount of catch-up work you have to do that makes you question whether it was worth it to use your PTO at all.
As a former head of culture and leadership development for Fortune 500 companies—and now as a CEO—I approach our relationship to PTO as a business opportunity. Research has shown that fatigued workers cost employers more than a billion annually in lost productivity. There are three primary ways leading organizations approach PTO.
Make PTO a Hallmark of Your Culture
• Lock Arms: Shut down the office for everyone at the same time and let your clients know. There’s no guilt, no piling up of work while you are away, and it signals to all that your organization takes time off seriously.
• Create a System of Support: Coordinate your team’s time-off schedule so people cover for each other, preventing the dreaded pile of work upon someone’s return while building a team culture of support.
• Playing the Highlights Reel: When employees return from vacation, have them share one to two highlights, reflections and new perspectives gained to deepen relationships.
Help People Find Their “Why” for PTO
• Sometimes we lose perspective on why we need our PTO. It has a way of affecting our health, well-being and relationships, often not in a good way. Create a PTO Menu with themes like inspiration, rejuvenation, play and love, where colleagues add ideas for staycations and trips to spark and encourage one another. It builds community and connection and decreases the stigma around time off.
Make Time Away Part of Work
• If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that the hard line between work and our humanity is not human. Leading organizations take teams off-site to reflect, plan, strategize, reset and imagine. Retreats and group experiences improve collaboration, connection, performance and retention. They pay dividends.
We can build a culture of PTO because our PTO is deeply personal. As you think about your PTO, consider: Whom do you want to make memories with now? What do you say you wish you had more time for? What would be replenishing, so you can return and perform to your potential? What would your future self regret that you could’ve done today? In the words of Warren Buffett, “I can buy anything I want, but I can’t buy time.” PTO is the gift of time, and when we look back at our lives, we see nothing’s more valuable than that. So, where will you go next?
Emily Frieze-Kemeny is the founder and CEO of the leadership and change consulting firm Arose Group, which helps organizations bridge humanity and profitability through leadership development, executive coaching and culture change advisory services. Informed by her experience as the former head of culture and leadership at Morgan Stanley, IBM, Avon and Scholastic, Frieze-Kemeny and her team bring a level of pragmatism and creativity that drives results.