“Hi, I’ll be out of the office from Tuesday through Friday this week. I’ll be checking email in the afternoons and will get back to you as soon as I can!”
Does this out-of-office (OOO) message look familiar? Its tone is cheery, but the frantic promise to keep up with messages communicates anything but relaxing downtime.
Time away from work is crucial to employees’ mental health. Taking time to recharge boosts employee happiness and productivity, and keeps your retention rates high. But even as more employers tout the importance of employee well-being, time off, and work/life balance, this “not working (but really still working)” attitude is common among today’s workers.
If time off supports mental health at work, why are so many employees struggling to take it? Or coming back more worried and burned out than when they left?
Tags: employee engagement • Interviews / Opinions