By Michele Brosius
The epitome of mixing business with pleasure, hush trips have increased since the remote and hybrid work landscape surged post-pandemic. Everyone from the employee actually on a secret workcation to human resource executives and middle management have opinions on the trend. But who has the best take? Discover the whys and hows of this touchy topic.
What exactly are hush trips?
Working from home full-time or even just a few days per week, comes with numerous perks. You can get the kids off to school, head to the coffee shop to check some emails or go home and start a load of laundry before settling in for your team call.
According to Pew Research Center, 14% of all employed adults work from home full-time and 41% with jobs that can be done remotely, are working hybrid schedules. Remote and hybrid work opportunities have allowed many employees a chance to reclaim their personal lives.
There’s no need to figure out a new outfit each day or spend precious hours and dollars commuting. With extra hours in the day and money in their pockets, employees are taking full advantage of their coveted work-from-anywhere lifestyle.
Enter the hush trip. Simply put, a hush trip means taking off to parts unknown – or more realistically, known and carefully planned – without informing your higher-ups that you’ll be away from your home base.
What could go wrong? As fun and exciting as it sounds, secret workations are not without risk. Employees could be violating company rules or subjecting the business to an internal data security risk while logging in from unauthorized places.
But, with so many things to do, places to visit and sites to see, the idea of a hush trip is appealing to employees. Hotels and resorts agree; scrambling to recoup some of those lost pandemic dollars, they’re set on making the workcation an enticing prospect.
How the travel industry is contributing to the trend
In 2021, with the lifting of pandemic travel bans, innovators in the travel industry sought to lure consumers back to hotels and vacation spots with discounted rates and creative perks. Hyatt’s Office for the Day, for example, lets customers pay for daytime use of a guest room as a workplace. These campaigns have become popular among remote-working road-trippers.
Remote workers have been sharing their work-from-anywhere experiences from top destination cities like Chicago, Miami and even the Disney theme parks on social media. Videos chronicling a day in the life of remote workers have been popping up on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. YouTube content creators, Always Planning invites viewers to spend the day with them as they work remotely from Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Florida.
What does your boss think
If you’ve ever been made to feel bad after requesting time off from your supervisor – especially time you’ve earned – then you already know what your boss would think if they found out you were logging on to the company’s virtual desktop from a tropical island.
First and foremost, for most bosses, it’s an issue of trust and transparency. And, as juvenile as it may seem, the issue of fairness may come into play. In other words, why should you be allowed to enjoy beautiful scenery in a remote mountain cabin, when the rest of your team are slogging away from their somber Millennial gray home office?
A direct supervisor may feel that open communication and trust are the foundation of a positive work relationship and breaking that trust by taking unauthorized time off, may be the dealbreaker that costs you your job.
Key takeaways for employers
No one wants to admit it but, if employees are sneaking out on the down-low to visit bucket list travel destinations while on the clock, the underlying problem isn’t the employee. The real issue that should be addressed is that employees don’t feel valued and respected in the workplace and comfortable enough to be transparent in their actions.
If valuable and reliable employees are being sneaky, something is amiss. It may be a sign that company policies and workplace culture need reevaluating. Flexibility in the rapidly evolving work landscape is important. Rising costs of childcare, housing and groceries have families stretched thin. Embracing a flexible work culture is crucial to embodying the work-life balance cliche.
Should you take a secret vacation?
Enjoying an impromptu getaway during your work week sounds like the ultimate win, but there’s always a catch. Company policy, trust and security are significant concerns. You may think you’ve got it all figured out, but you’re technically only one accidental unmute away from revealing you’re taking the Zoom call by the pool with a cold drink in hand. It’s important to weigh the decision carefully; morning meetings to mid-day adventures or potentially breaking a company rule and losing your job?
If employees are set on being fully in charge of their own time, they may consider pursuing a role as a consultant or independent contractor to ensure flexibility. Being your own boss is one way to avoid compromising your integrity or even worse, making the wrong person upset or jealous of your adventures.
Remote work isn’t going away anytime soon so we all must work together to find a mutually respectful balance. Ultimately, we all want a healthy and productive work environment, it’s just going to take all hands on deck, even if were on the pool deck, to make it happen.
Michele Brosius is the creator of Midlife Healthy Living where she expertly combines her love for cooking with budget-conscious nutrition strategies. Through her blog, she encourages women to embrace a healthier lifestyle with simple recipes and wellness tips.
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