Midcareer sabbaticals prove antidotes to burnout

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

MIAMI — Not long ago, workers considered midcareer sabbaticals perks for those who could afford time off to indulge in trips to Australia or backpacking through the Himalayas.

But now that success is measured by who can log the most hours, the sabbatical is making a comeback as an antidote for burnout. A growing number of workers want to disconnect from their jobs and recharge. And, for more of them, it’s not just a pie-in-the-sky dream.

Just as teachers get the summer off to regroup, more employers, big and small, are stepping in to help their employees slow down, unplug and unwind — for from four weeks to a year.

“Companies find if they don’t do something, their workers will burn out and leave, or worse, burn out and stay,” says workplace consultant/speaker Bill Blades.

Among the Fortune 100 Best Places to Work, 22 companies boast of offering fully paid sabbaticals. The Society of Human Resources says the percentage of large companies that offer sabbaticals has doubled in the past five years.

Think of it as a campaign to save the spirit of valuable employees.

Since 1992, employees who have worked at American Express for 10 years have been able to apply for a paid sabbatical of up to six months to work with a nonprofit. The company says several hundred employees have used the benefit.

Employees come back more energized and loyal, with a new appreciation of the value that the company places on being a good corporate citizen, says Stacey Orange of American Express.

At Procter & Gamble, employees can take a sabbatical of up to 12 weeks after only one year, and every seven years after.

The leave is unpaid, although employees continue to get benefits.

But even if your company doesn’t pay a cent, author Dan Clements assures you still can make a sabbatical happen. “Your ability to take a sabbatical is dependent on how you think, not your level of wealth,” says Clements, who with his spouse has written a book on sabbaticals, “Escape 101: The Four Secrets to Taking a Sabbatical or Career Break Without Losing Your Money or Mind.” In his forthcoming book, Clements lays out a financial plan that could include renting out your home for income or finding a low-cost volunteer opportunity.

But even with paid time off, complete withdrawal in a culture in which BlackBerrys have become the latest appendage and one out of every five Americans surveyed brought a laptop on vacation might be hard for some workers.

Edwin Goldberg, 45, found it took two sabbaticals before he got it right.

“After the first one, I changed my idea of what a sabbatical should be,” he says. The first time around, even though Goldberg, a rabbi, didn’t go into the office, he worked from home, writing a book. “I was productive, but it wasn’t a real sabbatical,” he says. That’s why on his second personal retreat, he says, “I worked hard on not doing much.”

For that reason, some employers are going to the next step — training workers how to take effective sabbaticals. Enter the sabbatical coaches. Blades, a consultant, works for employers and provides pre-sabbatical training. Through a series of mentoring sessions, he helps workers figure out areas for personal improvement and steps to get there while on sabbatical.