Working Vacation

As I type this, I am remembreing my vacation where I overlooked a refreshing pool and was mesmerized by the palm trees blowing in the wind. In the distance, I saw the ocean and tasted the salt in the air. It was peaceful, calm and relaxing.

This vacation was not a typical vacation.  I was on a working vacation. I chose to do this. No one forced me to work while in paradise. It was not mandated that I log in everyday or check my email. This is what I had planned when I booked the trip.

We like to live in different boxes throughout our lives. But what if we go out of those boxes and try something new like a working vacation.

I believe that companies should offer working vacations as a benefit. Now this is additional to regular vacation time (not a substitution).

Here are a few ideas on how a company can add this to their benefits:

Treat it like how they treat conferences

We all know that people who attend conferences do not always go to every session. So why not allow your employee to go to a destination of their choice and work?

Half Work and Half Play

Allow your employee to work less hours on their working vacation. Maybe they focus on items that they only need to complete versus being in meetings. That can eliminate several hours in a week. But the employee is still ensuring key items are completed.

Professional Development

Instead of a conference, let your employee go someone nice to take an online course. They complete the course and come back with new skills and some R&R.

We all know that pay is not the only perk that people want and a working vacation could be a great benefit to help hire and retain top talent.

Who would not want to work like this?