Bosses see benefit in giving sabbaticals to workers
Managers take a page from academia, see extended time off as a way to reward and retain employees.
from the September 24, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Ms. Bassett offers reassurance to other small businesses: "So many people I talk to say, 'We could never do it. Our company is too small. We can't afford to have people out.' But this next generation of workers thrives on new things. It's a fabulous way to keep employees, and to keep them happy and productive."
Noting that he, too, hears "a lot of discussion about sabbaticals but not much implementation," Rosen says, "People think it's a great idea but think they can't do it for some reason or other."
Explaining his rationale for offering this benefit, he says, "We want employees to have an experience that revitalizes them and changes their thinking – that brings them back with brand-new ideas and perspectives. If they're not growing as people, we're not growing as a company."
That kind of potential growth, coupled with a desire to help others, inspired Susan Davis and her husband, Walter Moora, of East Troy, Wis., to spend six months in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, an ecovillage.
"So many of my friends at other companies have had life-changing sabbaticals," says Ms. Davis, president of Capital Missions Co., writing in an e-mail from Ecuador. "We both have ideas about how we can give back to this village during our time here."
A few offer paid time off so employees can do community service. Ernst & Young's Corporate Social Responsibility program deploys top-performing people to countries in need, giving them a three-month paid sabbatical.
Jo-Ann Harrington, an assistant vice president at Citizens Bank in Rumford, R.I., spent three months working at a homeless services organization as part of Citizens Financial Group's paid Community Service Sabbatical program.
"I did a little bit of everything," she says. "It was just an amazing experience." Describing herself as "completely changed," she adds, "We all have ambitions; we all want to succeed. But we don't very often take a step back and realize how lucky we are. This experience brought me face to face with that fact. Sometimes we lack gratitude."
Occasionally, companies ask those returning from a sabbatical to share their experiences, either in a formal presentation to co-workers or in writing. Citrin Cooperman & Co., a New York accounting firm, requires those taking a sabbatical to submit two 1,000-word essays when they come back. One focuses on where the employee sees his or her career going in the next few years. The other must offer advice on how the firm can improve.
Angel, the divorce attorney who bicycled around China and meditated in a Buddhist monastery, still savors her experience, saying that it enabled her to continue practicing law.
"It broadened my sense of the world in a way I'll always have with me," she says. "It's changed my perspective about the balance of work and life. Remembering my time abroad enables me to put things in perspective."
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