Why you should avoid 'quiet vacationing' to prevent burnout and boost productivity

Instead of "quiet vacations," employees should take guilt-free time off to refresh before returning to work, a tech company HR exec said.

• Jennifer Kraszewski of Paycom advocates for 'loud vacationing,' which means taking guilt-free vacations.
• Employees who don't take breaks can suffer from burnout.
• 76% of Americans wish their workplace emphasized pursuing PTO, according to a survey.

Quiet vacationing has gained traction this summer. It's the latest workplace trend in which workers are going on holidays while on the job without telling their employers, instead of requesting paid time off.

For Jennifer Kraszewski, the chief human resources officer at Paycom, a payroll and human resources software provider, quiet vacationing defeats the whole purpose of going away to disconnect from work. She said, in the end, it's detrimental to both the individual and their employer.

"Employees finding workarounds to take vacations without actually taking their PTO are probably less productive during a quiet vacation because they're doing the bare minimum just to appear like they're working," Kraszewski said.

As an alternative, Kraszewski has coined the term 'loud vacationing,' meaning taking guiltless time off and understanding that this benefit belongs to you as an employee.

The concept also highlights the role of businesses, which should create more supportive environments to encourage staff to pursue PTO.

Why is PTO important?

Taking time away from the office is vital for employees' mental and physical health, Kraszewski said.

"If you do take your vacation time, you're going to feel better at work," she said. "You're going to have more clarity around what you're doing."

"When you can truly unplug and take that vacation, you can become rested, and you come back to work more engaged," she said.

Tackling burnout

Kraszewski said people get burned out when they don't take time off, which can lead to higher turnover, and that's expensive for companies.

"There are some companies that have a culture of where if you're working all the time and never take PTO, you get the gold star, and you are going to get promoted," Kraszewski said, but she warned that this is not the right way to look at someone's career growth.

She said it's important to support employees in all areas of their lives so they can be engaged and productive.

Kraszewski added that it's also likely that staff who don't feel they can take vacation time will complain at home to family, who won't be as supportive of them working for that business, possibly resulting in a change of job.

Quiet vacationing is not really vacationing

For Kraszewski, no employee should feel guilty about taking their PTO.

She encouraged managers to talk about their vacations and be excited for staff about taking time off.

When you're on holiday, and you need to take a work call in the evening, you end up spending the whole day dreading it, she said.

"You need to unplug, you need to get off Zoom, and go and take that beach vacation," Kraszewski said.