When was the last time you took
According to the Pew Research Center, while approximately 80% of Americans have paid time off, less than half are not using all of their
Rightler has over 20 years of experience as a people leader across six industries, and in that time she has become a big proponent of "mini" sabbaticals. Separate from standard vacation days,
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"I want to be really clear to say that sabbaticals are very different from vacations," she says. "It's not like I'm sitting around in a spa and eating bonbons. I'm relaxing, but it's relaxing with a purpose. I may meet with a therapist or a wellness person to help me get re-centered."
While Rightler notes that everyone will have different resources or activities that help them re-center themselves, she finds that the best sabbaticals mean going off the professional grid. And if you can, maybe even getting off the grid in general.
"My husband doesn't even contact me. I don't talk to anyone when I'm on a sabbatical because it is really about focusing and centering on myself," says Rightler. "You have to prioritize [time off]. It's all a part of you having balance in your life, not just personally, but in your career."
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Rightler explains that her mini sabbaticals boosted her productivity at previous employers — something she saw highlighted in her performance reviews.
"I put [mini sabbaticals] on the table when I talked to my leaders and prefaced it, saying that if you want to get the best from me, this is what I require," she says. "This is what it takes in order for me to have creativity, innovation and productivity, all the things that organizations say are necessary and required for their businesses to thrive."
Still, Rightler acknowledges that for some employers, adding more PTO categories might be a hard sell. She encourages benefit leaders to try a mini sabbatical themselves by taking at least a few days to completely disconnect and see the difference it makes to their own productivity and engagement.
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"Benefit leaders can't always just go and talk about benefits and what the benefits should be. They need to go and experience it," says Rightler. "So when you are making the argument to your CEOs or your top levels of management to understand why we need to incorporate these into our policies, you can give a clear example of how it's helped you."
On a cultural level, employers may want to rethink the value they place on PTO and the misconceptions around what it means to be a productive employee. Rightler argues that, ultimately, time off is a benefit for employees and employers. A business is only as strong as its workers, she emphasizes.
"We're so competitive in the U.S. around productivity and hitting the number, we don't recognize the true impact it has on the people," says Rightler. "That's why you see the burnout. That's why you see the mass exodus of people leaving corporate America. Doesn't matter if a person is making a high salary; if you're not treating them with empathy and compassion, why would they keep coming back to work to be hyperproductive?"
