Holidays are supposed to help reduce stress but…
July 22, 2010
Having just returned from annual leave this week, I was quite interested to read an article stating that according to a survey carried out by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), nearly half of UK Managers are more stressed when they return to work than before they went on holiday! I must admit the thought of coming back in after a week out of the office was causing me some anxiety, although the reality wasn’t as bad as expected.
The biggest factor managers are stressing about is the thought of all the emails to return to which will all need actions taking. I had a lot of emails when I came back but I had prepared for a lot of them by checking my Blackberry a couple of times whilst I was away, which is another issue for UK managers and their precious holiday time…
The ILM research found that a third of managers worked whilst on holiday, with 80 per cent of this group responding to emails and half taking phone calls. One in ten of this group even said they went into the office when on annual leave! I must admit I did feel the need to check up on things, but I didn’t respond to any emails, I just wanted to know that everything was ok – in saying that I probably would have responded had I felt the need.
Managers blame increasing workloads, the fear of job security and the increasing ease of remote working for their lack of ability to completely switch off when on holiday. It’s true that whilst mobile communications and networks have great advantages for flexible working, it does mean the temptation to do a little bit of work here and there when you should be switching off becomes more apparent. I do feel that overall I managed to have a good break from work and didn’t think about it too much, but it wasn’t a completely clean break with no communications.
What happens when you go on holiday? Can you break free from work and have a proper rest?
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