Tech giant HP has carried out a summer 2010 survey as part of its Laser Jet Pays You Back campaign that looked at the holidaying habits of SME workers and their efficiency on returning to the office and the results were interesting.
From its EMEA-wide survey, HP found that SME workers are three times as likely to be more productive in the workplace on returning from a beach holiday than a city break, educational/training-based break or adventure holiday.
The research also found that managers were most likely to return to the office full of vim and vigour after a holiday because 13pc more managers than non-managers used this time to completely switch off.
There is a difference, however, in how SME employees in individual countries react to holiday time: while only 22pc of the French reported feeling more motivated after returning to the office from holidays, this was in contrast to 72pc of Greeks, 63pc of Turks and 56pc of South Africans.
Meanwhile, this number lagged at 36pc for the Dutch and 26pc for the Spanish.
And if you think you need two consecutive weeks off to unwind and return with batteries fully charged, HP noted that one week seemed to be as good as two from an efficiency perspective.
“Managers and non-managers alike derive benefits from taking a holiday, which is rarely associated with ROI,” said Dr Michael Bashshur, industrial organisational psychologist, who commented on HP’s survey.
“Taking a holiday allows employees recharge their batteries and helps reduce depression and eliminate stress, allowing employees to be more productive when they ultimately return to the workplace,” he added.
Luis Casado, marketing director with HP LaserJet & Enterprise Solutions, GTMU Imaging & Printing Group, EMEA, said that organisations get more value from their workforce by taking the findings into account.
“The EMEA research is all about identifying, measuring and exploiting hidden values throughout the workplace. It was conducted in parallel with HP’s LaserJet Pays You Back campaign.
The campaign highlights how – once purchased – HP LaserJet printers are an investment that continually pay your business back by reducing the level of paper and supplies consumed, consolidating devices and in turn using less energy than competitive alternatives.”
