Unless you’re in one of those indispensable jobs—say, a hospital nurse, EMT, or cybersecurity staff—you might think you really don’t need to be on call 24/7, especially on major holidays like Christmas or New Year’s Day. And no doubt you’re right, since kicking back with family and friends is what the holidays are all about. So why do slightly more than half (53%) of us stay connected to work even when we should be swigging eggnog and reveling in the festivities?
Mostly, it seems, because we can. “Our research shows there’s been a major shift in companies now, toward more employees never really switching off,” notes Paul Statham, CEO and founder of office-scheduling software maker Condeco Software. “The big question used to be whether employees would still be productive if managers couldn’t see them. Now the issue is, how do you encourage people to disconnect?”
A new survey from LinkedIn of 2,000 U.S. Office workers backs that up. Consider: 51% of us have been bothered, er, we mean contacted by colleagues or bosses via phone, text, or email while on a holiday break, usually (51% again) to answer a “quick, easy question” or (46%) because of something urgent no one else could address. About one in three (30%) check in to the office at least once or twice every day during the holidays.
Somewhat surprisingly, only 28% of the employees polled said they rely on an auto responder—an autoreply on email, for instance—while they’re out celebrating. Yet even that group struggles to chill out: 54% say their outgoing message doesn’t help them disconnect, since coworkers and clients so often ignore it and demand an instant answer anyway.
That’s too bad, since there’s plenty of evidence that being out of touch with work once in a while can actually make people more productive, by giving our overloaded brains some much-needed downtime. Getting completely away from the job for a couple of days “gives you time to think,” Statham says. “Email and texts are constant distractions.”
In large part to let people take a deep breath, and maybe string two thoughts together without interruption, Condeco is closed from Dec. 23rd until Jan. 2. (The sole exception: The company’s tech center in India, which stays up and running. Staffers there get time off in late October to celebrate Diwali, the five-day festival of lights.) The company allows its 390 employees around the world to choose when, or if, to turn off their smartphones and chill. “Some people are even more stressed by being out of touch than by staying connected,” notes Statham.
It’s worth noting that, even if your company’s policy is less generous, there’s a good chance you’re no Bob Cratchit. Almost half (46%) of those LinkedIn surveyed said their bosses had turned a blind eye to employees’ taking care of holiday-related tasks at work —online shopping, for example. Another 34% said their manager had okayed time out of the office for the express purpose of checking off Christmas or Hannukah to-do lists.
Among age groups, LinkedIn reports, Gen Z took top honors for sheer holiday chutzpah. They told LinkedIn’s pollsters they had spent time at work making party plans (34%), napping at their desks after having stayed up too late taking care of holiday chores (20%), or claiming to have an out-of-office meeting so they could go shopping (18%).
One thing is clear: Whether or not your company allows real, unplugged time off at this season of the year depends largely on its day-to-day culture the rest of the time. The notion that employees are entitled to distraction-free lives outside work—like most other values companies cultivate over time—has to come straight from the top, or no one will act on it. “We do encourage people to spend uninterrupted time with their families and friends, especially, but not only, around the holidays,” Paul Statham says. “Life’s too short not to.” No argument there.
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