Why Resorts Should Encourage Their Staff to Take a Vacation

Project: Time Off found that vacations improve employee morale and work performance.

It’s no secret that many people don’t use all of their earned time off. The average U.S. employee takes about half of his or her vacation days in a year, according to a March 2017 survey by Glassdoor. Employees often feel guilty about taking vacations, notes Katie Denis, chief of research and strategy for Project: Time Off (PTO), an organization helping Americans use their vacation days. “There’s concern about what you might be putting on someone else when you take time off.” Vacations not only prevent employee burnout but also improve performance. A 2017 PTO study, The State of American Vacation found that 64 percent of managers agree that employees are more willing to put in long hours when needed if they are also encouraged to take time off.

“We encourage team members to take time off and believe in the importance of maintaining a healthy balance between work and home,” says Erin Booth, vice president of total rewards at Holiday Inn Club Vacations (HICV). To encourage employees to use all their vacation, HICV limits the hours they can carry over from year to year, and managers monitor vacation balances to ensure they get used. Resorts must work with employees to schedule their time off while also ensuring the resort can run as efficiently as possible. That support from the company is key. “The number one influencer over an employee’s time is the boss—even ahead of their own family,” Denis says.

Resorts can help by sharing Project: Time Off’s Vacation Planning Tool, which helps users allocate their vacation days throughout the year. Incentives are also strong motivators. HICV offers discounts to employees so they can experience the resort as a guest. “This helps improve employee engagement, which in turn improves the service our guests receive,” Booth says.

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