Are you vacation deprived?

Every year Expedia undertakes an International Vacation Deprivation (TM) Survey, looking at vacation habits of employed workers in the US, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France and Australia.

This year's results included:

• 33% of employed adults in the US usually don't take all their vacation, with the average worker surveyed giving back an average of 4 days to their employer. This translates to 574 Million Vacation days/year worth, $75.72 Billion.
• 24% of employed adults in Canada usually don't take all their vacation, with the average employed person giving back an average of 2 vacation days to their employer. This translates to $5.1 Billion dollars per year.

The results of the whole 2006 Expedia survey can be found at www.vacationdeprivation.com.

I was interviewed last week by Kavita Gosyne of the Metro News here in Toronto (www.metronews.ca). She was looking at the importance of vacation for all Canadian workers, and particularly for young professionals. As I mention in her article, vacations are important for workers of all ages. As I stated, "Not only is vacation time good for the employee, but it is good for the company. "A lot of it comes down to the difference between working and working productively. Are they(the employees) working at optimal productivity? Work-life balance impacts company productivity and profitability. It makes (good) business sense.". The link to Kavita's article can be found by clicking the blog title above.

What is the state of work-life balance for you? For your company? Are you fully recharged and working at optimal productivity levels? If you would like more information and resources I would invite you to visit my sister blog, Your Balanced Life! (http://yourbalancedlife.blogspot.com). Much of the HR Consulting work I undertake with companies often has it's roots in work-life balance. I also run on a quarterly basis a Your Balanced Life! teleseminar program, supporting busy professionals in enhancing their work-life balance.

I'd be interested in hearing from you - Areyou vacation deprived? How do you recharge? What's the state of work-life balance in your life? Drop me an email at jennifer@potentialsrealized.com or click the comment link below.

Cheers to a productive and balanced week,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton

Potentials Realized: www.potentialsrealized.com