How can one get back to work after leave?
How can HR help employees from leave get back on track? Some of my colleagues seem to find it hard to settle in after leave. Sometimes they are clueless about how to do their tasks. Peter
Dear Peter,
The vision of returning to the office after leave and the reality usually has very little in common. While many of us expect to return with boundless energy and restored creativity, what usually happens is that we spend several scattered hours (or days) trying to process a surge of emails and falling further behind on tasks that have built up in the interim.
Ideally, before you go for leave, you want to ensure everything is perfect; you have communicated with everyone, turned on your out-of-office responder and shared your handover report with the concerned persons.
While this preparation is important, it is just as vital to set up a plan for when you return.
It is very possible to feel mentally exhausted from the pile of work that you have returned to.
Rather than feeling overwhelmed, take one step at a time and prioritise your tasks, remember all these can not be done in a day.
Also, schedule your meetings the second day you’re in the office.
Have a plan for your emails and resist the urge to read and respond. You may return to 101 emails, but not all of them will require responses.
Start with the old and end with the most recent ones. That way you’ll track responses or updates to issues that may have already been settled. This can help you slowly return into your work routine sooner than you think.
Alice Nankya L. Nsibuka
HR business partner
NMG - Uganda
[email protected]
