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off themselves , it can be difficult for them to practice what leaders may be preaching about time off as an important aspect of self-care and mental well-being .

Leading by example may be a necessity , but it isn ’ t the only way to encourage the use of time off . As SHRM reports , 40 percent of employees say that offering companywide days off would be helpful in encouraging PTO use . Offering additional time off as a reward for performance was cited by 39 percent of employees as a helpful incentive , while 37 percent said that leaders who actively track days off and encourage employees to take unused PTO would make them likelier to do so .

Going Back in Time According to the U . S . Travel Association , Americans took an average of 20.3 days off work between 1976 and 2000 , with a peak of 21.2 days off in 1981 . By 2018 , that number had fallen to 17.4 days taken , leaving more than 750 million vacation days unused . If Americans returned to that pre-2000 average , it would equate to 447 million additional days of vacation time used .

Given the intense focus on the pandemic ’ s impact on employee health and well-being over the past year , it is

somewhat ironic to learn that employees took even fewer days off in 2020 than in previous years . A recent report for Deloitte , in fact , claims that 75 percent of workers are experiencing burnout , and the risk for depression has gone up 102 percent and a staggering 305 percent for workers aged 20-39 . It seems that a simple awareness of the benefits of time off — or the aforementioned effects of not using it — is not enough to spur employees to change their habits when it comes to using PTO . Organizations and the leaders who work within them must therefore be active in encouraging employees to use their time off . This can be accomplished both through the development of policies that facilitate the use of time off without a significant financial penalty and by monitoring individuals ’ schedules and encouraging time off directly .

It may seem as though actively taking employees out of the spa at a time when it may be busier than at any point over the last year simply leaves money on the table . But with everything we ’ ve learned about the ways that workplace stress and burnout can affect employee wellbeing ( and therefore retention ), spa leaders must remember that the cost of high turnover rates and an overworked team are far greater . ■

Percent of employees that took less time off in 2020 compared to previous years .

Percent of employees that plan to take off more time this year than they did in 2020 .

Percent of employees that plan to take more “ mental health ” days off this year , to reset from the physical and emotional stress of 2020 .

48 PULSE ^■ JULY 2021