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Is Workcation Just An Excuse to Slack Off On Work?

Work hard, play hard!

While international travel is still a no-go, Malaysians are still allowed to travel between states without any hassle ever since the lift of the cross-state ban, provided they are not restricted under EMCO (Enhanced Movement Control Order). 

As it stands, employees everywhere are vying to get a week off work, now that traveling is allowed. However, the end of a year is usually busiest for businesses and companies. Can you, as an employer, let your employees take a long leave; regardless of month or season? Well, did you know workcation is also an option?

What is A Workcation?

Combining work and vacation, it involves working while being away from the office, blending leisure time with productive time. You may think that the work-from-home notion is a workcation, but it’s not! Even if you enjoy a little leisure time during lunch break.

A workcation involves taking a trip to somewhere new: new environment, new scenery, new people to meet while also maintaining work productivity. While it’s not quite the vacation as you will still be working, you can get a change of pace from the usual scenery of your home’s wall. A change of scenery is what everyone needs to maintain freshness and excitement.

Imagine working, but you are faced with the tranquil scenery of the sea. You’re productive, and stress levels are low. How cool is that? Even so, there are always a bit of bad in the good. Let’s unravel the pros and cons of workcation!

Why employers should allow workcation

  • Different environment

According to the Remote Collaborative Worker Survey by CoSo Cloud, 77% of employees report greater productivity while working off site and 64% of global business leaders said flexible working had a positive impact on productivity, Condeco reported. When employees are given the space and freedom to work, it will reflect in their work performance that they can do better. Hence, employees who get permission to work while on vacation are more likely to give better results.

Image via Qantas

  • Showing gratitude to the employees

Your employees have worked hard to ensure the success of your business, despite the occasional mistakes. Regardless, the important thing to do is to not dismiss their efforts and ask them to work harder, but instead show them gratitude. Whether you like it or not, your employees are the reason why your company is still standing so allowing them a little privilege to enjoy a workcation will surely birth positive results.

  • Giving motivation

An employee who feels their employer trusts them after they have done their best will have more motivation to work harder and better for the satisfaction of each party. Motivation doesn’t always have to be pep talks, but can also be entrusting your employees to work remotely, as means of saying: “You need this, use it to your best advantage. I trust you.”

Image via BPI-Philam 

Workcation: Yay or nay?

Despite the good of workcation, you should also face reality. It will be hard for anyone to work while travelling. Everyone wants to enjoy their vacation to their fullest, don’t they? Even yourself, as an employer. Workcation may affect your employee’s focus, and have them divert from the actual objective of a workcation. When focus is diverted, productivity rates can decrease tremendously despite your employees promising to ensure they meet deadlines and give the best performance while on vacation.

However, we believe that when employees ask for a workcation, it is not as a means to slack off with the promise of work. Employees who ask for a workcation are simply employees who care about their job enough to continue working while on vacation, and employers should really give their employees a chance to experience workcation. After all, it is one way to test your employees’ discipline, trustability and credibility.

As an employer, would you allow your employees to opt for workcation? Let us know at info@xaviermah.my!

Cover image by Freepik

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