Do your employees want to 'get away' from you?

Can you hear those jingle bells? That’s right, it’s the festive season once again, with the annual Christmas break now just around the corner.

For many employees, the festive break is the longest time that they’ll spend away from their desk for the next 12 months – and for some, the winter slow-down has already started. A recent study from CV-Library found that the average employee starts to lose their drive as early as December 16th. As concerning as this is, bosses may at least take solace in the idea that their staff are unwinding, and will, therefore, be well placed to arrive back in the New Year rested and ready to dive into a pile of work.

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Christmas | New data reveals UK bosses are 'Scrooges'

However, don’t feel too confident about your productivity in Q1, as British workers only feel out of their boss’s reach, and therefore able to truly relax without the weight of their career bearing down upon them, when they travel at least 1,000 miles away, a poll by the Independent has found.

The survey, which quizzed 2,000 professionals found that one in five who are in the direct vicinity of their boss still feel pressure to answer work calls or respond to emails, even when on annual leave. One third even stated that they only feel that they can completely switch off and enjoy the festive period with their families if they get away via a long-haul flight, with destinations such as Florida, Australia and New Zealand plucking the top spots on the list of destinations workers flee to.