Gardening leave is HR's greatest invention. Of course we all know the practice is designed to stop you working for the competition. However, from my point of view the great benefit of being removed the marketplace is that it gives you the chance to recharge your batteries.
I know you wouldn't run a racehorse every day and expect optimum performance. Indeed it is naive in the extreme to expect human beings to deliver 100% each and every day at work. Yes, I agree holidays are very important to recharge the batteries; but just think about it, the average person works from say 20 years of age to 60, five days a week for 48 weeks in each and every year, working on average 40 hours per week. I don't think that's the way to train a winner. We need, from time-to time, to take a real break from that treadmill, a period of respite so as to take stock and put things in perspective.
I really think time out is important. However, it's not just about taking a break, I am great enthusiast for Lombardo and Eichinger and their book The Leadership Machine. Not only did they give us the performance potential matrix, they hypothesise that there are three prerequisites for career success:
- IQ, you need some of it, though not necessarily to MENSA standards;
- Emotional Quotient (EQ) measures emotional intelligence. If you've ever worked for someone who lacks EQ you'll know what I mean.
But these two characteristics in themselves don't guarantee career success, according to Lombardo and Eichinger, there is a third factor:
- Learning Agility (LQ) which is the ability to understand that the business environment is changing and having the resources to respond to that change.
What we know about business success is that a behavior, once tried and found to be successful, is continuously repeated irrespective as to whether it is suitable for the evolving environment. It's an aspect of the 'go faster' syndrome but you can't rely solely on what worked in the past and if all you do is repeat what you already know then you're not learning and not exploiting anything new, innovative or exciting.
Charles Handy, in his seminal work The Age of Unreason, used the illustration of the frog in tepid water who fails to recognise that the water it is swimming in is getting warmer and while it can, it doesn't jump out. Instead it is boiled to death. The metaphor has been used by quite a few writers pointing out the inability or unwillingness of people to react to significant but gradual changes in their environment.
There is no doubt that a lot of business failures have been about failing to recognise change in the business environment and competitive marketplace. Woolworths, HMV, Yell, Northern Rock to mention just a few. The failure of such large organisations to adapt to changing circumstances is one of the great enigmas of the business world. But it's not rocket science to work out that leaders need to adapt their behaviour to suit the context.
So, how is this relevant to sabbaticals? Well, they present the perfect opportunity to go swimming in a new and different environment and I have long been an advocate of leadership development programmes that take leaders out of their normal business environment and give them someone else's problem to solve. If you can combine this with a corporate social responsibility programme so much the better. It's a double whammy - lots of real learning opportunities at the same time as doing good.
A multinational study reported in the Journal of Applied Psychology in June this year, found that people who take sabbaticals not only experience a decline in stress during their sabbatical, but experience an overall stress decline after returning to work as well (compared to their stress levels before they went on leave). A sabbatical, in short, is the perfect vehicle with which to regroup your resources, reassess your aspirations and reprioritise your goals and career options.
In conclusion, my premise is that organisations should sponsor sabbaticals that take you out of your normal workplace, offering the chance to do something different and cope with new challenges and opportunities, and at the same time, regaining your mojo.
So if you can organise a sabbatical, consider if there is merit in spending time in the not-for-profit or public sector? Alternatively, investigate the possibility of working for a supplier or client in your sector, somewhere that gives you a new point of view to inspire renewed energy and creativity.
I am sure, however, that such an opportunity is unlikely to be bestowed on you from on high. Sabbaticals don't just happen out of the blue. If you take your career seriously, and are prepared to invest time and commitment in personal development, why not scope out the opportunity for a sabbatical then make the business case as to why it should be supported. Talk about it in terms of return on investment. Time spent learning and exploring in a new environment offers the opportunity to develop interpersonal and professional skills, to build new relationships or partnerships and opens up opportunities to explore new markets.
After all who wants to be a frog swimming in boiling water?
Michael Moran (pictured) is managing director and founder of talent consultancy 10Eighty
