If you are fortunate enough to love your job AND work for a company that offers a sabbatical program, it would be wasteful for you not to take advantage of the opportunity to take a sabbatical.

yourSABBATICAL is a firm that partners with businesses to deploy programs that attract, retain and accelerate top talent through the use of highly planned and structured leaves of absences. Having worked with many Fortune 500 companies and their employees, they are experts in the area of creating sabbatical programs with defined goals and measurable results. Here they discuss the benefits to both you and your employer.

It used to be that sabbaticals, which began in academia in 1880, were a way for educational institutions to compete with the private sector for talent. Contemporary research shows that sabbaticals rejuvenate human capital, enhance morale, accelerate career development, and increase the productivity and profitability of the organizations that offer them. When it comes to sabbaticals, it may be time for corporate America to go back to school.

Sabbatical by Definition

A “sabbatical” is a planned, strategic job pause – paid or unpaid – whereby an individual takes time to disconnect from what is “usual” for at least four weeks, to travel, do research, volunteer, learn a new skill, or fulfill a lifelong dream before returning to regular work.

“A sabbatical is an opportunity to dust off and consolidate the boxes labeled ‘life’ and ‘work’,” said Elizabeth Pagano, co-founder of yourSABBATICAL. “Sabbaticals contribute to the betterment of the whole person, enabling people to contribute and thrive in more significant ways, both professionally and personally.”

What a Sabbatical is NOT

yourSABBATICAL aims to make very clear what sabbaticals are not:

• Sabbaticals are not an extended vacation
• Sabbaticals are not career suicide
• Sabbaticals are not a “perk”
• Sabbaticals are not reserved solely for large companies
• Sabbaticals are not only applicable in a thriving economy

Sabbaticals Benefit Companies and Employees

Smart companies are leveraging sabbatical programs in many ways, including tying sabbaticals in with leadership and development initiatives, creating informal training opportunities and talent exchanges through the work coverage process, as well as connecting sabbatical programs with the company’s mission and values (i.e. making it a volunteer program, a research program or an “innovation” program).

“Sabbaticals lift people above the fray and frazzle of day-to-day life,” says Barbara Pagano, also a founding partner of yourSABBATICAL. “Necessary components of any career strategy, sabbaticals offer an opportunity for intentional reflection, personal reinvigoration and growth, transformative insights, and renewed passion – all having powerful implications in life and at work.”

Benefits of Sabbaticals

For Employers

• Talent retention
• Talent recruitment
• Retained wisdom
• Increased productivity, loyalty and commitment
• Revitalized workforce
• Cross-training and proving grounds
• Bottom line boosting alternative to layoffs
• Winning reputation
• PR opportunities

For Employees

• Self-awareness
• Replenished energy
• Renewed commitment
• Surge of creativity
• Enhanced ability to inspire others
• Increased confidence

To see if your company offers a sabbatical program, visit Workplaces for Sabbaticals at yourSABBATICAL.