Regular travel can improve work performance, research shows

Attention Aussie workers: new research has revealed some compelling reasons to book your next trip with no guilt attached.

Staff who take travel breaks show improved mental wellbeing, resulting in increased productivity and innovation at work, new research shows.

Australians are being urged to pack their bags and go on holiday, as new research reveals regular travel can improve work performance.

Small business owners report staff who take travel breaks have improved mental wellbeing, resulting in increased productivity and innovation at work, according to exclusive findings from research by American Express Business Class.

Business owners say regular travel also positively impacts their own ability to make better decisions and run their business.

Pandemic lockdowns saw workers accrue record levels of annual leave, with latest figures revealing more than 1.39 million Australians have at least seven weeks of holiday due.

A further 6.7 million Australians – more than half the nation’s paid workforce – have at least two weeks of annual leave up their sleeve.

Change your default

With lockdowns over, the American Express research shows 87 per cent of small business owners are planning at least one domestic holiday this year, while two-thirds will holiday overseas.

Behavioural researcher Dan Gregory believes workers, who became “housebound” and “introverted” during the pandemic, should also plan to get away. He says those that enjoy regular travel holidays come back to work more refreshed and take fewer sick days.

He says opting to spend annual leave time at home does not have the same effect.

“It’s not just about switching off, it’s about changing your input – the great thing about travel is you’re immersed in a different environment, which shakes up your default thinking,” he says.

“If I was just hanging around home, it’s really easy for me to sneak into my office and do a bit of work or read a book that’s business related so there’s something about the physical detachment from your home and work environment that is really important.”

Gregory says the distance travelled need not be overly significant to reap the benefits, citing the cultural differences between metropolitan and regional areas of Australia.

No guilt

The research findings show there is no need for workers and small business owners to feel guilty about taking time away from work, American Express SME account development and client onboarding vice president Kiely Potter says.

“We all know that small business owners, in particular, have had a really difficult time over the last couple of years. But given how valuable taking a break can be to them and also to their business, they shouldn’t feel guilty about time off,” she says.

“Getting out of the house, travelling and exploring new places is a great way to take the stress away from running a small business and it’s great … to see so many are now keen to do that.”

Business owner Michelle Grand-Milkovic.

Taking time to think smart

Michelle Grand-Milkovic makes her best business decisions when she is away on holiday.

It was in Bali that she and husband Michael decided to take the plunge and open love.fish, a small seafood restaurant in Sydney.

Another holiday six years later saw the couple move the popular eatery to its current location, a 175-seat venue in the waterside precinct of Barangaroo.

“Being on holiday has always inspired us and enabled us to sit and think about what it is that we want to do,” Grand-Milkovic says.

“In many ways, that travel side of things has been fundamental to the direction our journey has taken us in.”

Before the pandemic, the couple and their two children enjoyed holidays to the UK and parts of Europe, including Italy and Greece.

In the early days of setting up the popular restaurant, Grand-Milovic admits holidays were few and far between. But a health scare in 2014 forced the family to re-evaluate and plan regular breaks away.

“Hospitality businesses are very time consuming and full-on ventures – you can never really switch off when you’re a hospitality business owner,” she says.

“For us, holidays let us really step back and be objective about what’s working in our business, what’s not working, what we are still passionate about and what we feel is weighing us down.

“That mental clarity we get when we are away is almost impossible to achieve when you are in your business 24-7.”