American Workers Looking Forward to the New R&R This Summer - Rest & Recovery

MELVILLE, N.Y., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- This summer, employees(1) are ready for a post-recession break from the office and are planning to take advantage of the upcoming peak vacation season. According to the June American Workplace Insights online survey conducted by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Adecco Staffing US, part of the world's largest recruitment and workforce solutions provider, a majority of employees (78%) are not concerned about their job security if they take a vacation – a possible sign that confidence is increasing in the workplace as the economy continues to rebound. Additionally, employees are largely looking to truly "unplug" while they're away, as only 37% plan to connect with the office via cell or email while on vacation this summer – further evidence that employees are feeling more stability in the workplace.

Employers, however, may not be as ready to take a break. While 43% of employees are expecting that their employer will encourage them to use their vacation time, more than half (58%) of employees believe their employers will not offer summer or flex-hours/arrangements this year.  Additionally, 52% of employees are not expecting summer benefits such as happy hours, picnics and casual dress work days.

Additional survey findings include:

• Few Employees Plan to Call in "Sick" to Play Hooky from Work: Over three-quarters (76%) of employees will take the high road this summer and will not call in sick just to take time off.
• Employees' Vacation Spots Not Chosen to Avoid Office Work: While employees are looking to take a break from the office this summer, they're not looking to run away from it.  More than half (68%) said they would not purposely take a vacation in a location with no phone or e-mail service so they don't have to check-in with work.
• Employees Plan to Telecommute from Home More this Summer: Nearly one-quarter (24%) of employees plan to work from home more/at all this summer.  Men who are employed plan on enjoying the summer from home more than their female counterparts.  Over a quarter (28%) of men agreed that they plan on working from home more/at all this summer, compared to only 19% of women.

"As Summer 2010 kicks off and the economy continues to show renewed promise of recovery, employees are looking to enjoy the summer season without the worry and fear of losing their job," said Rich Thompson, vice president of learning and performance at Adecco Group North America. "This likely indicates employees feeling a renewed confidence in the economy and increased feelings of job security in the workplace are returning. Employers preparing for the rest of the summer may want to consider offering or reinstituting summer perks, where possible, which could potentially boost employee morale and help aid employee retention. We've mentioned before that as the job market improves, we'll likely be seeing a shift in workplace moves and now is the time for employers to focus on building positive experiences for employees."

Adecco Staffing US offers the following tips for employers to keep morale high in the summer months.

Provide Recognition. A very easy way to keep your employees motivated is to simply recognize them for the work they do.  Saying "thank you" can be done by calling an employee into your office to thank them without discussing any work, sending a hand-written thank you note to employees' homes, or asking your boss, or someone even higher up to call and thank the employee.

Encourage a Work/Life Balance.  As a manager you should set a clear example for your employees by maintaining a healthy work/life balance.  For example, instead of eating lunch at your desk – which sends a message to your team that they should do the same – try eating in a break room or leaving the office entirely. If you're sick, stay home. Above all, use your vacation time. When your team sees you taking care of yourself in this manner, they'll be more likely to follow suit – and that's a great way to keep morale high.

Make the Workplace Fun. Employees that have some fun at the office will be more excited and energized to be there. Easy, cost-effective ways to do this include turning on music in the afternoon or occasionally breaking up the day with a round of trivia or a quick board game.

Re-Examine your Company Culture. Every company has a certain culture – and it can be positive or negative. If your business isn't actively fostering a positive culture, odds are good it's the latter. Fortunately, it is possible to change your employees' perception of the company – through a positive attitude, good communication and appropriate incentives – and have them embrace a new culture that inspires them.

About the Adecco Group:

The Adecco Group, based in Zurich, Switzerland, is the world's leading provider of HR solutions. With over 29,000 FTE employees and more than 5,800 offices, in over 60 countries and territories around the world, Adecco Group offers a wide variety of services, connecting more than 500,000 colleagues with over 100,000 clients every day. The services offered fall into the broad categories of temporary staffing, permanent placement, outsourcing, consulting and outplacement. The Adecco Group is a Fortune Global 500 company.

Adecco S.A. is registered in Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) with listings on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN) and on Euronext in France (ADE).

About Adecco Group North America:

Every day we provide our clients with the talent they need, and help solve the business challenges they face today – and will encounter tomorrow. Our clients rely on us for a wide range of workforce solutions including:

• Contingent staffing and direct hire recruitment for large enterprise organizations across all skill sets
• Workforce solutions and consulting including Managed Services Programs (MSP) & Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
• Career transition and leadership consulting
• Specialty staffing, project solutions and consulting services

Additional information is available through our websites at www.adeccogroupna.com and www.adeccousa.com.

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

About this American Workplace Insights Survey

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Adecco from June 8-10, 2010 among 2,035 adults ages 18 and older, of whom 1,020 are employed full time and/or part time. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Vannessa Almeida.

(1) For the purposes of this survey "employees" are defined as U.S. adults ages 18+ who are employed full time and/or part time (n= 1,020)

SOURCE Adecco Staffing US