If you think that vacations are unproductive wastes of time, you are dead wrong. There are many benefits to taking a great vacation, and if anyone knows these benefits, it's small business owners. You work harder than most and you want your business to be successful. However, sometimes the key to making your Phoenix small business successful is to give your team members a break.
And with the 4th of July coming up this weekend, I am willing to bet many people are already out on their summer vacations, planning on enjoying barbecues, fireworks, and holiday festivities.
So if you're upset that your team has taken vacation and is looking forward to thinking about anything but work, don't be. It will all improve their performance in the long run. Here are a few benefits to employee vacations.
1. Relaxation - Even you as a small business owner needs a break sometimes, right? Allowing your business team more vacation days per year and giving them the opportunity to take them means they will feel more relaxed and refreshed when they get back into the office.
2. Time to de-stress - Sometimes the stress of the workday just gets to us. Unfortunately, this stress can cause some serious issues. A study in the Wisconsin Medical Journal found that women who take infrequent vacations sleep less, stress more, become more tense and can even develop depression. If you keep your employees happy and healthy, you'll keep your business on the right track.
3. Can spark inspiration - By walking away from a project, issue or complex problem and jumping into a new situation, you are forcing your brain to work in a different way. This could spark some creative inspiration as well as helping figure out the problems at the office.
4. Improve relationships - When your employees take more to spend with their families and less time in the office, they are happier. It's that simple. And happy employees are productive employees.
5. Live longer lives - A State University of New York survey found that men who took annual vacations reduced their risk of death by 20 percent. Men who didn’t take any vacations in five years had the highest death rate and incidence of heart disease than any other men surveyed. So, men, get out there and enjoy the 4th of July weekend this year. Your life may depend on it.
6. Improve productivity - Yes, it seems counterintuitive, but when employees are planning 2 weeks of vacation throughout the year, they will work harder to get all their work done in the remaining 50 weeks of the year.
By allowing your employees to feel relaxed and to take breaks every once in a while, their attitudes will also become more positive, leaving you with a pleasant work environment, and happy, productive employees. So just sit back and watch your small business success increase along with the smiles and suntans.
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