In 2018 Americans left 768 million vacation days unused, and that number was up by 9% from the year before. And yet, at least a quarter of Americans leave vacation days on the table every year. And 61 percent of them continue to work even when they do take time off. If you manage people, you might think this is great news. After all, more time working is good for business, right? Wrong. The more important factor is a healthy work life balance.

Work life balance is more than a hip catchphrase for your recruiters to throw around. It leads to healthier employees and a healthier bottom line. If you need convincing, check out this top-three list of reasons why you should help your employees achieve work life balance.

Top 3 Reasons You Should Insist Your Employees Take Vacation

1. Happy Employees are Less Likely to Ditch You

All work and no play not only makes Jack a dull boy—it also makes employees crabby and tense. Poor work life balance fosters unpleasant workplaces and eventual departures.

Employee turnover is more than a pain in the neck, it’s also a huge waste of your company’s precious funds. The happier your employees are, the less likely they are to leave for greener pastures, and that means you won’t have to expend time and resources finding and training replacements.

Yes, when your employees are out of the office they aren’t crunching numbers and making sales. But they are strengthening bonds with their family and friends, enjoying their pastimes and generally letting off steam. One way to avoid pressure build up, and blow ups, is encouraging work life balance from the get-go.

2. Rested Employees are Healthier

You already know that sick employees cost you time, efficiency, and money. But did you know that encouraging your people to achieve work life balance can help keep them healthy?

It’s true. Workers who take at least one vacation a year are more likely to rate their health as “good” or “very good”. Plus, they cut their risk of heart disease by 30 to 50 percent.

3. Work Life Balance Equals Better Work

Ultimately, your business’s success relies on brain power, and brains simply don’t work well if they don’t get enough rest. If you want your team and your company to thrive, incorporating vacation time and proper work life balance into your strategy is a must.

In his opinion article, The ‘Busy’ Trap, Tim Kreider wrote: “Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets.  The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration—it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done.”

Become a better manager

Ensuring your employees maintain a healthy Finding Work-life Balance is an integral aspect of a good manager in today’s corporate world. If you’re serious about Management Essentials, then the library of online learning courses found at KnowledgeCity may be just what you’ve been looking for. Sign up for a Free Demo today and discover why knowledge, truly is power.