Leverage Vacation Time to Get Ahead at Work

While many of us change our latitude during the summer months to escape the stresses of everyday life, nearly 87% of Americans opt to forgo their share of R&R; citing lack of time.

Perhaps this quick read on the health benefits of taking vacation time will empower you to change your (or your boss') philosophy. So when you finally decide to submit your vacation request, don’t think about work and what awaits you when you get back. Instead, leverage that vacation mindset to help you change your work life for the better.

Taking a mental health break helps us to refocus. After the fog lifts, we can think clearly about what is needed to make our position better and more efficient. If you manage your company's workforce or staffing solutions; i.e. contingent labor, recruiting services and partners or just getting talent into your organization in general, you deserve a good vacation. Maybe after that vacation you can bring some vacation back to work, instead of bringing work on vacation. 

Morale of the story? Your vacation doesn't need to end when you get back to work. Here are four ways you can leverage that vacation mindset to help solve your company's staffing challenges.

1. Did you do nothing or did you explore? Some people like to do nothing on a vacation while others are busy the entire time. Think about both times at work. There are times when you don’t need to hire and others when hiring becomes about the only thing you can think about. What are your strategies for each one? During the slow times can you make changes? During peak times do you have the resources you need (hint: you should probably get those resources in place during the slow times).
   
   
2. How’s the view? You like to return from vacation with spectacular photographs and videos. How’s the view at work? Do you have visibility over your workforce and your workforce processes? What has changed or is changing and do you know which way things are trending. Many companies find themselves in an ongoing talent deficit because they are constantly chasing their tail when it comes to hiring. Which begs the question: With your current strategies, is the view worth the climb? Or, is it covered by clouds?
   
   
3. What was the service like? You know when you’re getting good service and it makes the vacation much more enjoyable, especially when everyone in your party is happy. All it takes is one or two grumpy travels to turn the vacation of a lifetime into the trip from hell. So, what about the service you get from your recruiting partners at work? Is everyone happy, from the hiring managers through to HR? Recruiting is a “people” business and for it to work smoothly on an outsourced basis there has to be a solid relationship and good customer service to all the managers and HR partners. How many stars would you give your providers?
   
   
4. How about getting there? If the flight was awful you spend the first day recovering which is not a great start to any vacation. If the return flight is bad, that’s OK, but then who really cares since you already potentially ruined your vacation with the first flight? Then you have to tell everyone how bad it was. At work, the smooth implementation of a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) or managed services program is often overlooked and under appreciated. If it goes correctly, it gets the program off to a great start and starts the relationship off on a positive note. If not, it’s a bumpy ride the whole way and everyone wants to talk about how bad it is. Some say getting there is half the fun. I say, getting there is half the fight.

Enjoy your summer, even if you’re not changing your latitude. Even the thought of it might change your attitude. And while you are at it, take a look at your talent management and recruiting latitude and attitude. Is it time for a change?