Grand Wealth Implements New Sabbatical Benefit

One of the many values I hope to instill into our team at Grand Wealth is the importance of intentionally empowering everyone to step into leadership when the moment arrives. To grow as a company and deliver on our mission to help clients achieve more for themselves, their families, and their communities, all of us must be prepared for any situation to ensure our clients’ success. At the end of the day, our clients can count on any member of our team to understand their needs and step up to guide them.

Planning and collaboration are both essential to this level of adaptability and growth, but so is pause. This year we have created a new sabbatical policy that encourages our team to utilize some intentional time set aside for rest and renewal while also creating space for others to grow in skill and leadership.

The structure of the sabbatical is straightforward: For every five years of service, full-time employees in good standing are eligible for a four-week sabbatical leave. This can also be combined with PTO for extended time off. During their sabbatical, the employee will not have access to any company software and files, including email and voicemail. This is to ensure that our employees are completely focused during their time off.

I will be laying the groundwork for this policy by taking my personal sabbatical in late August. When I first started considering this idea several years ago, I came across Lisa A.K. Kirchenbauer’s 2018 article titled, “Sabbatical Success: How to have a business to come back to after six weeks away.” From there I was inspired to explore the concept and how we could implement it here at Grand Wealth. When our eligible employees submit their sabbatical request, we don’t require an outline of what they are doing on their sabbatical or have a checklist of what they can or can’t do. To quote Kirchenbauer, “sabbaticals are no longer a nice benefit, they are a critical strategy to stay fresh, focused, and productive.” As a leader, it is my role to set an example of how important a sabbatical is and how to do it well.

I can assure you that something like shutting down my company email for four weeks will be a challenge, even though I have full confidence in the team during my absence. Many of us are so conditioned to be on the clock after the day is closed that it’s almost scary to think about. However, it comes back around to setting a good example to the firm, and our clients, about how we intend the sabbatical to work and its purpose.

One thing we do hope everyone does upon their return is share their experiences. Perhaps they traveled to new places, visited family and friends, or maybe checked some items off their bucket list. By sharing what they did and how it impacted them, they can help cultivate the mentality that it is not only ok to take some extended time off, but that it is an important part of building a successful business. I am looking forward to sharing my own experiences upon my return in late September and seeing how our firm successfully stepped into this new chapter in our firm’s growth.

‍The opinions expressed herein are those of Grand Wealth Management and are subject to change without notice. Grand Wealth Management is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. More information about Grand Wealth Management's investment advisory services can be found in its Form ADV Part 2.