Management

Situation Time

Todd is a super hard worker and one of your teams top performers. Hes also one of those workers who just wont take a vacation. Oh yes, he takes a day here and there. But each year he leaves as much as two weeks of vacation time on the table. You believe he would benefit from the occasional break, working happier and maybe more productively with some vacation time under his belt. His unwillingness to take time off is also a subject of conversation among his teammates. Their view is that he is starting to make them look and feel bad when they take the vacation time that they earn. Some are starting to act a bit resentfully toward him, and you recently overheard this comment: Take a little time off, Toddfor the good of the team, if not for yourself.

Questions

What can you do as the team leader to avoid having Todds reluctance to take vacation turn into major team morale and working relationships problems? How might you motivate Todd to take more vacation time, without risking his high performance commitment and work ethic?