Photo taken at our Airbnb house in Kauai.
I took a vacation to Hawaii with my wife for two weeks this past month. We saved up for months after wedding to go on a honeymoon trip to the islands. For weeks prior I felt worried about going and leaving my work duties. Do you ever have that feeling – where you just dread taking time off from work and you feel like everything would fall apart while you were away?
You’re not alone; professionals in North America have been taking less vacation year after year. It’s become a big trend for workers not to even take any time off throughout the entire year. Because of massive deadlines and important meetings it’s hard for Recruiters and Sourcers to escape for awhile. I’ve noticed another trend within my own group of friends. A lot Recruiters and Sourcers have been talking more about mental health and how the recruiting field causes a lot of stress and uncertainty. This in turn causes individuals to face “burn out” and leave our industry all together.
My conclusion from listening to others is a simple solution to this ever growing problem. Those in our industry need to take more vacations throughout the year. You don’t have to go to Hawaii (though you should, it’s great), but you do need to step outside of the office. Managers need to be advocates for their teams and demand that they do take at least one vacation a year. It’s a good thing to take a break and come back fully refreshed for work.
Our society demands perfection and values individuals who go the extra mile. Your best employee might be one who is passively looking for a new job because they are just burnt out. I’ve experienced this myself at several companies. Top performers are often more likely to jump to a position than others. When I worked at an agency I had a coworker who was putting in 10-11 hour hour days, working from home on weekends, and never took time off. After months of working with them they finally confessed to me that they hated working in that environment and were on the brink of burning out in the staffing field.
It was a shock and eye-opening experience for me. It really hit home the fact that we all need to take a vacation. I was able to jump to many of the islands: Oahu, Kauai, the Big Island, and Maui. It was an incredible experience with my wife and I will never regret taking the time off from work. In the end, taking that time makes me a better employee.
