Column Kim Jansen - 'Holidays... Let the hassle begin'

Summer vacation is just around the corner! This year, too, we are heading out en masse to unload, relax, de-stress. An adventurous road trip through the Balkans, a lazy beach vacation at the Mediterranean Sea, the famous family camping in the Veluwe, a staycation to redecorate the house or a super-luxurious wellness retreat. We all have around the same goal: before, during and after fun. Unfortunately, we also have the pre-stress, the it-fails-me-not-to-relax and the cold-shower-release symptoms when it's over. No, vacationing is not all about enjoyment. Sometimes it creates so much tension that true relaxation doesn't begin until "normal" life resumes. Where are we going to go? How are we going to pay for it? What will we have to bring with us? What are we going to do there? Who will arrange what? Vacation is literally and figuratively a chaotic trip. But we're all for it, because whew... how much we're looking forward to it!

The 'beginning' of vacation

The phenomenon of vacation has been around for a very long time. In ancient times, the Greeks and Romans already had periods of rest and recreation in the countryside. In the Middle Ages, holidays and religious festivities provided relaxation for the population. In the 19th century, with the rise of the Industrial Revolution, workers gradually gained more rights, including the right to leisure. During this period, people also began traveling for recreation, especially with the rise of the railroad system. In the 20th century, vacations became more common. The introduction of paid vacations for employees in many countries after World War II meant that more people had the opportunity to take regular vacations. Mass tourism took off. Today, vacation is a normal and essential part of life for many. Although the idea of vacation has been around for thousands of years, the form and meaning has changed greatly over the centuries.

Types of vacations across generations

My parents (Baby Boomers: born 1940-1955) didn't get much further than camping in the Ardennes. In my youth (am a Pragmatist: born 1980) both summer and winter vacations led to France. With rising prosperity, the generation after me (the Millennials: born 1985-2000) was introduced to flying vacations at an early age. And now the young adolescent Generation Z (born 2000-2015) sometimes command their parents to stop taking the plane for the sake of sustainability. But blood is thicker than water; we keep looking for ways to have an exotic experience. Vacationing is now a great good and sacred home. We will not part with it in 1, 2, 3 years. Even if it's 45 degrees in Spain and the ice cream melts before you can put it in your mouth. Even if a small cottage costs 1,000 euros a week. And we are willing to lie on a beach where you can walk over heads. We pay this price, because no vacationing ... For that, our "ordinary" life is not fun enough.

At a time when employees increasingly value work-life balance and like to have their own control over their (work) life, the organization related to work and coordination with colleagues also causes annoyance. "I have so few days", "If I don't take it all, I don't get paid extra; I can only carry the days over to next year", "A-relaxed that I can't decide for myself when I go on vacation", "Little flexibility in vacation planning was an important reason for me to become self-employed", "I have to take compulsory vacation days between Christmas and New Year's Eve, ridiculous", "If my supervisor is on vacation, I can't get hold of him at all when sometimes there is really shit I need him for". For all tensions in the workplace, my advice is the same: have an open conversation about this! After all, we will have to find a workable mode together. My second advice is: look at the preferences of the young generation. They are not the holy grail, but their needs and mindset can provide starting points for redesigning the concept of vacations.

Origin of thought

The young Generation Z has grown up in the fluid age. They have experienced a lot of freedom from an early age. For them, not being able to decide when to go on vacation is almost unbearable. It leads to "quiet vacationing. Which simply means they go on vacation without telling their boss. You can imagine that older generations are surprised by this, to say the least.

But fair is fair, the older working guard has raised Generation Z themselves and instilled the message that there is more to life than work. Parents urge their children, "You don't want to regret on your deathbed that you worked too hard and didn't allow yourself enough to enjoy yourself. In times of labor shortages, organizations feel the need to respond to the needs of young people and experiment with workations, sabbaticals, free vacation days and more say in scheduling. And what energizes young people ultimately energizes all generations. Older generations in the workplace are also embracing this new way of handling free time. And yes, it's a complicated dance and quest because we have a screaming shortage of staff. How do we manage this!

Communication Questions

Then I come to my main advice: make sure you engage and stay engaged. Raise questions like:

• How many vacation days is ideal for you?
• What time of year works best?
• How do we creatively deal with the growing workload combined with growing need for leisure time?
• How do you feel about a colleague taking unpaid leave?
• Do we call and/or email each other while on vacation? When we do, when we don't?

Determine the vacation ground rules together. And an additional question: is there a form of (work) life in which vacation is actually no longer necessary? And if so, what does that look like? Perhaps we will then discover that vacation -at least as we currently interpret it- is an outdated concept. That we can build relaxation and enjoyment into our lives as a basis and constantly. In any case, it would save a lot of hassle.

But for now, we're pulling out en masse this summer. All enjoy the welcome and well-deserved fuss!

 

Kim Jansen, Generation expert, speaker, author and guest blogger/partner of paraDIGMA groep