I’ve just returned from a managers meeting at our corporate HQ. While there, we covered lots of the topics expected - sales, management, hiring, best practices, how to grow and mentor a team etc.  But one of the most surprising topics covered was - vacations.

I am one of those managers who is guilty of putting off  vacation time until the end of the year and then not being able to use it.  l do like folks that put in tons of hours and are fully engaged in their roles at work.  But also I have also seen the effects of burn-out. I have learned over time - that taking time off is, in fact, an important element in keeping employees performing at their best.  So I thought I would share the research finding I received from our communications team.

Time Off

If you’ve been handing out an unspoken pat on the back to employees that work more than 40 hours each week and rarely take vacation, you’re likely not alone. According to the American Workplace Insights survey conducted by Harris Interactive:

• 57% of employees do not expect their employer to encourage vacation use.
• 58% believe their employers likely won’t offer flexible work hours this year.

It’s time to rethink your strategy. All work and no play may or may not lead to dull employees, but it will directly and negatively impact your bottom line. The following are a list of eight reasons to encourage your employees’ regular use of paid vacation:

1. Put a cap on accrued vacation payables. When an employee’s unused vacation time is allowed to accrue for an extended period of time, employers are left holding the bag if that employee leaves the company or suddenly decides to take many weeks at one time. A “use-it-or-lose-it” policy encourages employees to use their earned vacation time within the calendar year, and protects your balance sheet from an unlimited or unexpected payout.
2. Rested workers result in reduced premiums. The hallmarks of workaholism include fatigue, poor health, and stress, all of which lead to an increase in worker’s compensation and health insurance costs. Keep your employees healthier and safer while minimizing the premiums you pay, by enforcing necessary breaks in engagement and regular time off.
3. Increase output with higher productivity and accuracy levels. Studies have shown that productive, successful employees are those who take vacation and occasional time off to relax, rejuvenate and refresh. Upon return from vacation, their renewed sense of drive and determination can provide both short-term and long-term boosts in productivity. Additionally, the necessary rest and replenishment will help them avoid costly mistakes, which overworked employees are more apt to make.
4. Employees that get away are more likely to stick around. When you consider the total cost of recruiting, hiring and training new employees, turnover expenses can be devastating. Help improve employee morale when you facilitate, and even encourage, employee retention through the use of vacation time and an environment that supports employee-centered work hours.
5. A change of scenery promotes ingenuity. Hum-drum routine rarely leads to inspired thinking. When on vacation, we often find ourselves in a new environment, and going through different routines. By being forced to behave and think differently for a period of time, we gain fresh perspective, creative inspiration, and new ideas. It is impossible to put a dollar value on the innovation and ingenuity that will result for your company when you encourage your employees to take vacation as a sabbatical.
6. Happy employees minimize risk and adversity. The ever-elusive office culture – you tout it to recruits, but do you really understand its value? Overworked employees are cranky employees, and are often the cause of infighting as well as office politics. They are more likely to berate their boss, resent coworkers that don’t work as hard as they do, and even resent the job itself. Your entire office, and its work product, suffers the effects of an overworked employee. You can prevent unnecessary crankiness on your team by simply making it clear that working long hours and foregoing vacation are not the way to get ahead.
7. Reduce unplanned outages. Overworked employees may take fewer vacation days off, but the tradeoff is that they likely will require more sick days. Additionally, if your employees are nervous about how you will react to their vacation request, they will be more likely to procrastinate – leaving little time for a back-up plan – or even play hooky. Conversely, employees who feel open to use their vacation time at their discretion will more proactively plan for their outages and have fewer sick days. Foster an environment that supports your employees’ efforts to balance work and their personal lives through paid time off, and the result will be loyal employees that won’t leave you hanging.
8. Detect and deter fraud by interrupting individual controls. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE) 2010 Report to the Nations, a typical organization will lose 5% of its annual revenue to occupational fraud and abuse. Fraudulent behavior often requires complete control over an activity by one or more persons to cover up the paper trail, and is difficult to maintain while out of the office for a week or more. In fact, refusal to take vacation was one of the key red flag behaviors identified by the ACFE in their study. While the reality of these statistics is unpleasant, companies must acknowledge the need for a required vacation policy to help detect, and ideally deter, any existing or potential fraudulent behavior.

We have the pleasure of welcoming our newest addition to the Paladin Team and the new voice of Paladin - Cindy-Lee Pijoos. Cindy is taking over my role as Recruitment Coordinator. She will be the point person for our working Associates and initial inquiries from Candidates and Clients.

Cindy’s story about finding Paladin is a classic case study for how social networking can help you find a job. Recruiters, mentors, bloggers, and even Forbes continuously buzz about personal branding and networking through online communities to find a job. After reviewing Paladin’s postings online, she contacted me through a direct message on Twitter. Her social media savvy gained her an interview, and her experience and professionalism won her the role.

Cindy graduated with an integrated marketing communications degree in PR. She comes to us originally from Cape Town, South Africa and has lived in various cities before settling in Chicago. She thoroughly enjoys volunteering, cooking, and networking - so be sure to introduce yourself at the next event.

As we welcome Cindy as the new face and voice of Paladin, I am personally taking the next step in my career. I have recently accepted a position in social media, which will be a new challenge I am very excited to take on. My passion for interactive, online marketing has spooled through my experience at Paladin. I am happy to have had a chance to hone my social media experience in my Paladin role and look forward to staying a part of the extended Paladin family!

The first association I joined was the student chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, the PRSSA, primarily because Al Walker offered extra credit for my journalism class at NIU. While I may not have appreciated it at first, it is here where I built a strong foundation and friendships that I’ve drawn on throughout my career.

There are many reasons to join an association, and there are many for marketing and creative professionals to choose from. The key common thread they offer is a forum to interact with peers facing similar business challenges, and most importantly, an opportunity to further your personal and professional development.

Regardless of the stage you are at – from young professional to mid management, or even if you’ve reached the pinnacle of your profession, there is a wealth of benefits to tap into by not just joining, but actively participating in one or several groups.

Sure there are the tangible benefits of educational programs, access to thought leadership articles, access to member directories, subscriptions to trade publications and the like. But if you talk to long-time members and association leaders, there are far richer rewards and reasons to believe:

• Build a trusted peer-to-peer network to call on to help navigate a particular issue
• Exposure to best practices to benchmark what other companies are doing and spark new ideas for your organization
• Stretch your marketing skills as a speaker or committee volunteer, take on challenges outside your comfort zone or current work responsibilities
• Surround yourself with smart, savvy peers to inspire and encourage your own and your team’s creativity
  
• Be an industry insider and uncover new career opportunities that may be right for you
• Be a mentor – you’ll not only feel good, you’ll likely learn a few things right back!

We are fortunate to be part of a community of communicators, so perhaps one of the best perks I cherish through my involvement is the fun and lasting friendships gained along the way.

Follow Paladin’s association Twitter list for global updates from variety of networks: http://twitter.com/PaladinStaff/associations

Tell us your opinion! How important is it for professionals in marketing or creative positions to participate in associations? Take our Poll

Margaret Essary is Director, Business Development of Paladin and is an active member of several associations, including the Business Marketing Association, the American Marketing Association, and the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing.

The old adage that “time flies when you’re having fun” really hit home for me this morning. As I was reflecting on the last ten years I’ve spent in the professional working world, I realized that one of the common denominators in each of my positions has been healthcare. 

I began my career on the public relations side, working with healthcare systems and big pharma. That interest has carried over into my role in the recruiting world. In the last four years at Paladin, I’ve worked with nearly 30 healthcare associations, providers, insurers and pharma companies, providing a vast array of talent for marketing, creative, programming, membership, training, event and communications departments.  Working with marketers and creatives in this space has allowed me the opportunity to stay abreast of trends, pressures, challenges and nuances in the field.

To get an even deeper understanding of these trends, I launched a survey of my healthcare association clients last month. The goal was to better understand the marketing, membership and staffing trends within these organizations.  I think you’ll find the survey results interesting.

A few key findings:

- The healthcare association world is a “healthy” one, despite the turbulent U.S. economy. The majority of respondents noted that their overall membership base in continuing to grow and that from an organizational perspective, they plan to continue expanding in other markets.

- As with many organizations, healthcare associations are embracing the new social media movement and offering new online and interactive forums to help their members and employees communicate. Facebook and Linked-In are becoming the top social media tools in the communications arsenal of these organizations.

- In order to remain competitive, healthcare associations are expanding their product and service offerings in 2009, including e-learning programs, online conferences, and social  media tools.

I encourage you to review the full survey findings in the hope that you’ll be able to leverage them as you continue to build marketing and communications campaigns and products for your members this year.

http://www.paladinstaff.com/promo/survey-results/

I also welcome your insights and hope you will help create a larger dialogue on this topic.  Feel free to comment here, or to contact me off-line with questions, ideas, suggestions, requests or additional resources: elise@paladinstaff.com.