Overcoming Anxiety and Changing Perceptions about Taking Time Off from Work • A lot of people may be afraid to leave a job due to worries about their employer realizing they can do fine without them and missing out on opportunities. • The stories we tell ourselves can influence how we view stepping away from a job. • By proactively designing leave and re-entry policies, companies are more likely to value and appreciate employees who take time off. • There is a risk of being pigeonholed into previous roles and not being able to explore new interests or ideas upon returning to work.
DJ DiDonna
Yeah.
Kurt Nikish
So you had those great experiences, but a lot of people might be afraid to leave, right? You just, you step back from a job. You worry that, oh, I’m just going to show my employer that they can do just fine without me. Or like jobs are going to open up and other people are going to get promoted while I’m out of the picture. There’s got to be a little bit of anxiety in there too, right? Absolutely.
DJ DiDonna
I mean, I think it’s about the stories we tell around this, right? So the Stoics talk about how everything has two handles. Like you can pick it up with a scarcity mindset of as soon as I step away, they’re going to realize that someone else can do my job just as well as I could. What we often see is folks come back and they say, hey, listen, in order to re-up here, here’s what I need and here’s what I want. And the employer is like, great. We actually missed the stuff. Everyone’s replaceable, right? So in some sense, you provided some junior employees a chance to step up, but they have probably also gotten to see what they couldn’t replace when you were gone and see that they wanted To have you around. I think that’s the more often scenario that we see. And I think if you design it as a company ahead of time, instead of having it be an emergency shoot that you pull, I think that’s what you’re more likely to see.
Kurt Nikish
There’s also the danger that companies only know you as the person you were, right? And so when you come back and you may have other interests or you may have had some new ideas and they’re ready to put you back where you were. Right. I think that what happens, and we can talk about the results of the research,The Benefits of Funding Nonprofit Sabbaticals • Nonprofit funders can provide funding for nonprofit executives to take a year off, allowing them to step back and gain new perspectives on their work. • Giving people the benefits and permission to take sabbaticals can have a positive impact on their work and society. • Taking time off to reevaluate one’s career is recommended, especially if one has saved up enough to have a cushion. • Taking a break from work can provide an opportunity to reassess and make informed decisions about one’s future career path.
DJ DiDonna
They actually fund nonprofit executive to take a year off. And what that allows folks to do is people who are very, very passionate about their work, been working at it for a decade or two, can step back. The funders can actually see how those organizations work when they’re not there. And it shows you that if you give people the benefits and the permission to do that, it’ll have a positive impact no matter what. But we’re at this place in our society around work where it’s just not the norm yet. But 100 years ago, we didn’t have the weekend yet. So this is something we’ve seen the last few years, everything that’s up for debate around work.
Kurt Nikish
I imagine sometimes when people take sabbaticals, the negative event is getting fired or being laid off. A lot of people just start back into a new job or really get heavy on the search and don’t take time in between. You’re sort of being given a sabbatical in a way. What’s your advice for people who find themselves in that position?
DJ DiDonna
Again, if you’ve been saving up a little bit to be able to give yourself a cushion, which is a privileged position to be in, I think it’s one of the best times to step back and re-evaluate What you’re doing, right? I kind of liken it to like shopping while you’re hungry at the grocery store, right? I mean, like all of your connections are going to be in the same industry. You’re going to post on LinkedIn or whatnot and say that I’m looking for a newCompensation and Disconnecting: Setting Up Sabbaticals for Success • Organizations should offer compensation and allow employees to fully disconnect during sabbaticals. • Most employer sabbatical policies are unpaid, which limits participation. • Some countries, like Sweden and Australia, have successful sabbatical policies funded by the government or organizations. • Designing and implementing effective sabbatical policies is crucial for organizations.
Kurt Nikish
What can organizations do to set sabbaticals up in a better way?
DJ DiDonna
I think the first thing that they need to do is, you know, offer some sort of compensation, whether it’s like basic stipends, people retaining health insurance and allowing people
Kurt Nikish
To fully disconnect by shifting their responsibilities off to someone else on the team. Is that a problem with the current situation that a lot of employers offer them, but it’s basically unpaid leave?
DJ DiDonna
Or do you just want more people, more employers, making that an option? Yeah, most employer sabbatical policies are unpaid, which makes it difficult for everyone to participate in them. The Society of Human Resource Management has a study from six years ago that said 14%. I’d imagine that’s much larger now this is in the united states or yeah yeah um and i mean this is the thing culturally in some other places like sweden for example every citizen can take Six months off to pursue something entrepreneurial funded by the government in australia all civil servants have what they call long service leave six months um and the legacy of that Is that’s how long it took to sail from the UK, right? But no one’s going to get rid of that benefit because it’s awesome. And these countries, these organizations have found a way to be successful. So it’s all a matter of just kind of like designing it and putting it into place. SoThe Value of Extended Leave and Changing the Work Story • Managers should understand the value of extended leave to promote a more positive view of taking time off. • Extended leave should be measured in months, not weeks. • Employees should be given the opportunity and encouraged to disconnect during their time off. • Companies benefit from turnover and practicing the handover of responsibilities.
DJ DiDonna
I think there’s value to that as well, right? Because I do think that if you can get the managers understanding the value of extended leave, only the most kind of cold hearted folks will come back and say that was amazing. And also no one else gets it. So I do think this is about changing the story of you can be a good worker and also take time off every once in a while. The other thing I would touch on is the duration. So make sure that it’s measured in months, not weeks. I get a lot of inbound from companies setting up policies that are a month long or five weeks. I don’t want to discourage that because I think any time off is better than none, but that’s a European vacation, right? I think it needs to be longer. So work up to it perhaps. And the third thing is disconnection. So truly allow and force the employee to disconnect by disconnecting their email, putting their responsibilities onto other folks. And I think it’s a huge benefit for companies to do that because you’re actually seeing what happens when they’re gone. You’re practicing turnover and handing over responsibilities and figuring out what people are doing and redistributing them. Like turnover is not something to be avoided. It’s like the way things are. And so the more repetition you have of switching people in and out, the less surprised you’re going to be when someone quits or goes on parental leave and that sort of thing. A
