Absence Can Make Heart Grow Fonder

Ivan wonders if all he really needs to improve his spirits is a nice long break. Often a simple vacation is enough to recharge our batteries, but occasionally more time out is called for. In a conversation with the fictional human resources director at Moreland Drugs, Ivan learns how some real companies such as Illinois-based Hewitt Associates are encouraging employees to take sabbaticals from stress:

Ivan walked with some trepidation into the office of the human resources director. But she quickly put him at ease.

“So, Ivan, you’d like to take some time off to hang 10--and perhaps find a new career path? Rest assured, dude, that you’re not the first employee in mid-career to ask us here in human resources about arranging a leave to chill out, as it were.

“Let’s talk about some options.”

“What are they?” Ivan asked hopefully.

“Most people probably don’t realize it,” she said, “but the word ‘sabbatical’ comes from the term ‘Sabbath year’ and dates to the Old Testament custom of letting fields lie fallow every seventh year, a practice that allows the land to restore itself and produce even greater harvests in subsequent years.

“Many individuals find that after a break of a few weeks or months they feel renewed, restored and more eager than they’ve felt in a long time to dive back in to their careers. Others might discover while riding a camel in the Sahara or touring the pubs of Ireland that they need to veer off into some new career to feel fulfilled, or to have more time for family, or just to experience a new challenge.”

Policies at companies vary widely, the director explained. The vast majority of companies do not offer paid sabbaticals. On the other hand, some big companies now offer leaves in one form or another as a basic fringe benefit. These include Nike, McDonald’s, DuPont, Wells Fargo, Xerox, Intel, American Express, Federal Express and Apple Computer.

“Here at Moreland,” the director said, “we’re still working out a policy. As our work force ages, though, we are beginning to see the importance of built-in breaks. For now, though, it’s on a case-by-case basis.

“You know, at Hewitt Associates, a benefits consulting firm in Lincolnshire, Ill., employees with 15 years of service are encouraged to take ‘a vacation splash’--an extra three weeks of paid vacation. After that initial leave, employees become eligible for three extra weeks off every five years. Not bad, eh? And get this: If you don’t use it, you lose it. The company is quite serious about wanting people to take some time out.

“As Marie Lipari, a Hewitt work-life consultant, explained it to me: ‘We feel it’s important for you to take a break.’ ”

The director pulled out a 1992 report from the Conference Board, a business-sponsored research organization in New York. The group had studied how companies were adapting leave programs to reflect the pressures and demands of a recessionary, fast-changing economy.

The report found that some companies were seeking volunteers to take unpaid time off--with some benefits--during slack periods, with the understanding that the employees would return when business picked up again. In unusual cases, companies would even offer one-time educational incentives so workers could use that time off productively.

Aside from those unusual situations, the Conference Board learned, leave programs can be assigned to four broad categories:

* Traditional sabbaticals. Typically available to all employees who have met an initial service requirement, these policies offer paid leaves at recurring intervals.

* Leaves for personal growth. The common theme here is that providing time off for an employee who wants to pursue a personal interest--even if it’s surfboard design--will benefit both the employee and the company. The leave might be paid or unpaid.

* Social service leaves. These are fully paid leaves that require an extensive application and review process. A limited number of candidates get the chance to perform some sort of volunteer or community service work, with the promise of returning to their old jobs.

* Extended personal leaves. These unpaid leaves provide for a significant break of two or more years, with a return-to-work guarantee. Most beneficiaries have been mothers with young children.

“It’s obvious that you’ve looked into this topic,” Ivan said.

“I sure have,” the director said. “After all, I’d like a chance someday to pursue my own interest: studying the effects on California agriculture of the Mixtec people of Mexico.

“In my research, I’ve learned that employers find that such programs aid in recruiting and retaining valued employees, building morale and improving productivity. High-tech companies, law firms and consulting businesses in particular offer sabbaticals as a way of preventing burnout.

“But there can be pitfalls, Ivan. Many companies argue that leaves are expensive perks with tough-to-measure benefits. They can disrupt work routines. Also, employees heading off on leave must work closely with supervisors to ensure that colleagues do not feel resentful about the increased workloads that remain.”

“I’m sure,” Ivan said, “that employees tend to be the biggest proponents of sabbaticals.”

He shared a good example. Cynthia Rallis, a UCLA MBA with a background in theater, was a manager in information technology services at the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles when she took advantage of a three-month paid leave to study and travel in 1995.

The first month, she studied intensive French--in France, mind you--for eight hours a day. Then she traveled. By the time she returned to Los Angeles, she knew she wanted to remain with the Getty but in a different capacity--something that would be more central to the arts-based mission of the trust. Through luck and good timing, she soon landed a new position handling budget, finance, human resources and planning for the Getty Education Institute for the Arts.

After her break, she told Ivan, “I was so renewed. It did exactly what it was supposed to do. I was relaxed and ready to work really hard.”

The director nodded. “Even when companies don’t offer paid leaves as a matter of policy, Ivan, it’s sometimes possible to wangle one,” she said.

“Karen Stephenson, a corporate anthropologist and consultant who teaches at the Anderson School at UCLA, advises employees to go to their bosses with a plan. Tell the boss: ‘This is what I need, this is what I suggest. What can I do to make this have the least possible negative effect on the firm, given that it’s something that is for the long-term good of both?’ ”

Stephenson speaks from experience. Both in the corporate world and academia, she has taken many leaves to help her break out of a rut.

She views them, the director said, as a wise course for individuals, especially in today’s economy, where career switches are increasingly common. In addition to letting employees unwind from job stresses, they allow workers to gain new skills and insights that ultimately contribute to the company as well.

The downside for employers is that they risk losing an employee who has time to take stock and decides to make a change. Then again, without the time for renewal, that employee might have become burned out and dispirited.

“What about money?” Ivan asked. “I’ve set some aside, but I’m not rolling in dough.”

“Thousands of others have dealt with similar situations,” the director replied encouragingly.”David Sharp, co-author of ‘Six Months Off: How to Plan, Negotiate and Take the Break You Need Without Burning Bridges or Going Broke’ [Henry Holt, 1996, $12.95], offers four ways to come up with the money for a long break: Win it, beg it, save it or do without it. That might sound flip, but his point is: If you want it badly enough, you’ll figure out a plan.

“As he puts it: ‘Sabbaticals offer a healthy alternative to a culture that knows only two speeds: pedal to the metal or crash and burn. Taking a long break offers the chance to put balance back in our lives, and sanity back in our heads.’

“My advice, Ivan, is to take a ‘vacation splash’ on us. See what happens. What have you got to lose? Otherwise, it sounds as if you might just up and quit, so we have a stake in this too.”

So Ivan went off to shoot the curl for a blissful month. And, as he feared/hoped/expected, the break showed him that he desperately wanted to come out from behind his pharmacist’s counter.

“Now,” he told himself, “I need to figure out how to turn a love of surfing into a profitable enterprise. Where, oh where, do I go to do that? Hmmmmm, there must be a list of seaside business schools here on the Internet somewhere . . . “