What Would You Do with Three Weeks Off?

“I rented a lake house in Austin with my dog Fenway.”

“I went to Africa and hiked to see gorillas in Rwanda.”

“My husband and I spent three full weeks covering the entire West coast!”

“We took a two-week trip to Italy for a wedding and absolutely loved it.”

These are just a few of the experiences Centro employees have had through Centro’s sabbatical program. What is a sabbatical, you ask? It’s three-weeks of paid time off that any Centron can take advantage of during their fourth year of employment.

In competitive industries such as tech and finance, professionals often work  60+ hours per week—in addition to being available 24/7 by smartphone. The employees of today are waking up and checking their work accounts for emails, calls, and texts before their feet even hit the floor.

Today’s around-the-clock work week has created new concerns for employers, including high rates of employee burnout and turnover.

A vacation day here and there is great, but we all know how fast a long weekend can fly by. Centro’s sabbatical program was created when our leadership team asked themselves what might change if employees could take longer breaks from work. How would it affect their mental health and productivity? How would their engagement change when they returned to the office?

Formal research has found that employees are more productive and creative after returning from longer breaks, and that these breaks offer companies valuable insights into succession planning and organizational chart stability. Feedback from Centrons who have taken advantage of the sabbatical program has confirmed these research findings:

“It is rare during anyone’s professional career they can take three weeks off...It was a special time to see a different part of the world and, most importantly, spend time together.”

“I was able to reflect and establish goals for the next part of my life. It was incredibly restorative.”

“The sabbatical was an amazing lesson of how to delegate responsibility and offered a completely new perspective on my return to work.”

We’ve seen first-hand that our business benefits from the program as well. To quote Emilie Clark, whose team member recently returned from sabbatical, “I now have someone with the commitment and engagement of a new hire with all of the competency and knowledge of a tenured member of the team.”

Curious about Centro’s sabbatical and total compensation offerings? Learn more about our perks and benefits here.