Travel website Expedia.com has put out its annual survey about Americans and vacation habits.?One finding that is getting a lot of attention is the fact that 47% of the respondents say they don’t come home from a vacation feeling rested and rejuvenated.?The survey of more than 1,500 people also found that roughly one in three have trouble coping with work stress while they’re on a trip.
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a story on the survey and the challenge of people being unable to unplug from their jobs.? The article even included suggestions for relaxing more on your vacation.? While this is useful information, I think it reinforces the belief that we need to make our vacations more and more relaxing.? This often includes buying lots of expensive spa treatments and extravagant getaways.
While pampering is great, I think our focus need to be on making our work life less stressful.? A spa treatment is great for the symptoms of stress but does little to prevent the cause.
In my interactions with companies and audiences, much of stress on the job comes from communication problems.? Instructions are not clear, personalities clash, and a culture of complaining is encouraged (knowingly or not) by management.? As a result, you get a bunch of stressed out employees who experience high turnover, low productivity, and a defensive attitude toward change.
Organizations that want to improve their bottom line need to address these challenges.? An investment of a few hours and an ongoing commitment can retool even the most dysfunctional team.? Otherwise be prepared to be ground zero for burnout central.
Spas are great.? But maybe it’s time that they sweat a little when it comes to business.
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