Your annual leave is due, and you have yet to figure out what to do with it beyond the general idea that you will be taking time off from work. That right there is the problem.
With an 11-month head start, you have the power to shape your annual leave into a rejuvenating experience. But if you approach it haphazardly, your leave could go to waste. By planning effectively, you can ensure both you and the organization benefit from this essential break, allowing you to return with clarity and increased productivity.
It all begins with a clear purpose. Why do you need to take leave? Is it just a contractual perk, or do you see it as a meaningful opportunity to recharge and refocus? Defining this purpose can make your leave more engaging and intentional.
The workplace has evolved significantly over the years. Organizations are increasingly prioritizing multiskilled candidates during recruitment, which implies that today’s employees will juggle a lot more tasks than they did two decades ago. Additionally, the infusion of technology in today’s work has blurred the line between work and personal life. The email requiring you to attend to an urgent task will come through your mobile phone or laptop while you’re on the couch watching primetime news on television.
Nothing has redefined work more than the 2020 Covid pandemic. It changed employers’ approach towards work-life following the psychological and social toll that the pandemic took on workers.
A 2022 study by Glassdoor, the jobs and recruiting firm, revealed that negative discussion about burnout amongst UK workers had gone up 48 per cent—hitting record levels. The same survey found that 72 per cent of UK workers in full-time employment believed annual leave effectively minimizes burnout. However, only 34 per cent said their employer encouraged them to take their total yearly leave allocation.
The Employment Act of Uganda envisions the need for employees to take time off from work to rest in a bid to improve their quality of life. The greatest return on investment from taking annual leave is the notable improvement in efficiency and productivity. This benefit extends beyond your professional life, enhancing your personal goals and overall well-being.
Plan your leave ahead of its approval to make the most of your time off from work. At the beginning of the year, schedule your leave plan in alignment with your set personal and professional commitments.
To minimize interruptions from work during your leave, endeavour to complete all your routine/scheduled assignments and reports and train your reliever on routine and key tasks ahead of your leave. This is important for business continuity and saves you endless calls and emails that might disrupt your precious time off.
Planning your leave allows you to understand the logistical needs involved. For instance, if your purpose is a vacation abroad, you can gradually save for it over 11 months, reducing financial stress. Remember, travel isn’t expensive; what makes it ‘expensive’ is trying to do it at the last minute.
For most people, Annual Leave is meant to help them concentrate on everything that formal work is not. That desire to unplug comes from the negative emotions associated with work. Such emotions can result from pressurized deadlines, getting overwhelmed by tasks, long work hours, unfair workplace treatment, and little or no control over your working conditions, among other things.
These summed up, can lead to burnout—a state of physical and emotional exhaustion—which the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognized as an occupational phenomenon in 2019. WHO defines burnout as ‘a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.’
While planning your leave, include activities that improve your emotional well-being. Characteristics of an emotional support system vary from person to person. It means downtime or resting to some, especially those with low stress levels. To another, spending time with people who love and care about them could be what passes as emotional therapy. Holding conversations that help you open up on difficult phases you have endured can make all the difference.
Spending your time off undertaking professional development is also a meaningful way to achieve higher proficiencies in sought-after skills. That way, you remain competitive in the job market. Whether it is taking a foundational course in emerging trends such as AI and big data or management skills like leadership and social influence, this is a great value add.
As food for thought, The Future of Jobs Report 2023 by the World Economic Forum ranked analytical thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility, technological literacy, active listening, leadership and quality control, among the top 10 skills considered as core by companies. Companies surveyed in 2023 predicted that 44% of workers’ skills would be disrupted in the next five years up from 35% as predicted back in the 2016 survey.
Another way to make your absence from work count is to engage in activities that keep you healthy. You must be healthy mentally and physically to keep a job, let alone be productive at it.
Research has associated working long hours with the risk of heart attacks. A joint study by WHO and the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that, in 2016, at least 398,000 people died from stroke and another 347,000 from heart disease because of having worked at least 55 hours a week. Between 2000 and 2016, the number of deaths from heart disease due to working long hours increased by 42% and from stroke by 19%.
Therefore, it is prudent to utilize your leave by eating healthy diets, doing more physical exercise, reducing your screen time, and resting more than usual.
Ultimately, keeping the equilibrium of well-being and work in its right place is in the best interest of not only the employer but also the employee. This way, the employee will return to the office energized, refreshed, and focused.
Mary Matovu is the Human Resource Manager, at Uganda Development Bank Limited
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