A change can do you good

As a senior IT executive, your benefits package probably includes a company car, pension, perhaps even private health insurance. But what about the option to take a break from your job for several months – or even longer?

The number of companies offering paid sabbaticals is relatively small but growing. According to the Society of HR Management, between five and 15 per cent of companies in the US and Europe offer paid sabbaticals, with a further 18 per cent offering unpaid extended leave to some workers.

It is not just workers who benefit from a break with routine: research conducted by the Journal of Education for Business, a US academic journal, found that the benefits of sabbaticals outweigh the costs when the process is well-managed.

Employees return from breaks more committed and engaged with their jobs. And staff retention increases substantially – in fact, researchers found that virtually no employees were poached within three years of taking a sabbatical.

Organisations are becoming more aware of the benefits of career breaks and employees are more likely than ever to demand them, says Sarah Burnett, a senior research analyst with Butler Group.

‘We are now seeing a generation of managers who took gap years before they went to university, who value the idea of work/life balance above the company pension,’ she says. ‘These workers are increasingly likely to want to take a break when they have a family, or following a redundancy.’

One of the biggest proponents of the corporate sabbatical is chip manufacturer Intel. Since 1991, the company has offered all full-time staff a paid eight-week break after seven years – with additional breaks every seven years subsequently. The firm reports that one in every 20 employees takes a sabbatical in any given year – a total of more than 4,000 employees.

But the experts agree that taking a break can be career suicide if all you plan to do is sit in the garden and work on your tan.

‘It is absolutely essential to have a plan with what you do with the time off, or you could well come back to find you don’t have a job,’ says Burnett. ‘Don’t expect your boss to be impressed by your new-found peace and tranquillity.’

There are a number of options for executives looking to take a career break, each with their own pros and cons. Some executives choose to work in another industry or department, perhaps taking a stint in finance or manufacturing.

These breaks can be a perfect way to round out your understanding of how business works, but beware you do not become the finance department’s tea boy for six months, says Andy Walker, a research director with analyst Gartner.

‘The problem can be that no company is going to let you loose on its finance department because you know nothing about finance,’ says Walker. ‘So you end up shadowing someone and not doing anything useful for weeks on end.’

If you want to experience life outside the IT department, consider whether your company could implement an executive rotation programme – a formal programme whereby managers can job swap for a limited period, with the support of senior colleagues in their host department.

‘Executive rotation is actually a fantastic tool, particularly for someone who aspires to become a chief information officer (CIO) or chief operating officer,’ says Ian Taylor, vice president with Forrester Research. ‘There is no better way to get that commercial and business expertise.’

If you want to work in another business unit, do a little marketing – make sure colleagues know you are available for special projects and make sure your second in command is ready to take the reins if necessary. ‘Going off to do something plays a lot better to the human resources director and chief executive if it is in the name of succession planning,’ says Taylor.

Alternatively, you may wish to leave your office completely, perhaps working in a voluntary organisation or in a developing country. Projects around the world are crying out for skilled IT professionals to help establish technology programmes and train local workers to run them.

‘The good thing about that kind of experience is it teaches you a lot about being resourceful and dealing creatively with challenges,’ says Butler Group’s Burnett. ‘It shows great strength of character if you can make it work.’

Whatever plan you devise, there are ways to improve the chances of gaining your boss’s approval. Your best bet is to frame your career break in terms of how your new skills will help the business.

‘Try to think about new projects you could take on, or costs that will be saved because of the new knowledge you have gained,’ says Burnett.

For example, will you be better able to evaluate suppliers? Will you be developing a greater understanding of your customer base, or a brilliant qualification that will help you generate better business cases?

Walker also advises trying to build up a solid network of peers well before your planned break, so that colleagues will be more likely to support your plan.

‘Even while you are out of the office on a break, you still need to work those contacts so they remember who you are when you get back,’ he says.

Another option might be to look at how your organisation could finance the costs involved in your career break.

‘In some cases, there will be costs around pension contributions and payroll, but you could offer to forego some of your benefits to help recoup the cost of the break,’ says Walker.

There are, of course, potential downsides to a career break. Not least, economic conditions could change and you return to find yourself unemployed.

‘There’s a risk that a boss who lets you take a sabbatical is simply trying out how well they manage without you,’ says Burnett. ‘So you need to be absolutely sure you are gaining enough from the experience to balance that out.’

There is also a risk that your employer may feel that you will return without your finger on the technology pulse.

‘Employers are still very traditional and want to know what you will be up to while you’re away – and how it compares with colleagues who are not dashing off on a break,’ says Gartner’s Walker. ‘To some extent, it is a fallacy because the CIO doesn’t really need that knowledge, but your bosses probably believe that you do.’

If your company will not consider a career break, and you do not want to take the risk of resigning, there is a middle ground, says Taylor:

‘Lots of IT executives do work with organisations such as the Prince’s Trust, which can help enormously with leadership and team working skills. Or you might consider doing an MBA part-time,’ he says.

The key to enjoying a successful career break is not worrying about what will happen when the break is over. And that comes down to careful planning, says Walker.

‘Do the ground work,’ he says. ‘Make sure people know what you’re doing, why, and how it is going to help. Otherwise you’ll come back to the office and find people saying “who are you?”’

See also:

Julian Bass: Getting new skills and experience out of Africa

A career break can provide personal and professional benefits  23 Nov 2006

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