Traveling the World on Your Company's Dime

Published by Ryan Healy on June 24th, 2007 in Career Development, Noteworthy, Recruiting, Work/Life | 24 Comments

By Ryan Healy

According to a survey by The Conference Board, less than 23 percent of Americans are satisfied with their company's bonus plans and promotion policies and less than 30 percent are satisfied with their non-monetary reward/recognition and performance review processes. This comes as no surprise to me.

Typical small percentage promotions are barely noticeable after taxes and as nice as a hefty one-time bonus can be, it still leaves you feeling empty. Most non-monetary rewards are a sham as well. It's true that young people are becoming less concerned with money and materialistic goods, but we still want to live comfortably. More importantly, we want to experience what the world has to offer.

I want to travel. And I'm not talking about a beach vacation to Florida. I want to see what else is out there. Right now, four of my close friends are experiencing the world first hand and making money in the process. Keith is teaching English to young students in rural Japan, Scott just arrived in Korea for a year long journey, Mike has already been in Korea for close to two years teaching English and Dave just left last week to work for the Birthright Israel Program before he joins the Israeli Army for two to three years.

There is no reason why young people need to make a decision between starting a career and seeing what the world has to offer. Typical jobs put too many restrictions on what you can do and where you can go. Corporate America cannot afford to lose top talent like Keith, Scott, Mike and Dave. And young people cannot afford to lose out on the invaluable experience that comes from traveling the world. There needs to be some type of compromise.

Two weeks of vacation is a joke. I wouldn't even consider working for a company that gives me two weeks off. You don't own me or my time. You own my output and the work I do for your company. And that is all.

That being said, a compromise is quite simple. Companies can offer their usual amount of vacation days (hopefully it's a minimum of four weeks) and throw in some additional incentives. Every other year, the company will cover the cost of a flight plus $100 per day for a two-week trip to any foreign country. Employees should be actively encouraged to spend a portion of this time volunteering in a less fortunate area.

This is easy and relatively cheap for the company, and young employees will jump at the chance to travel and volunteer their time for a good cause. If it is completely necessary, the company can provide the employees with all the tools necessary to work remotely while abroad. Personally, I would have no problem sitting in a coffee shop in Rome for a few hours to take care of important business.

In the current job market, it is completely feasible for someone to not bother wasting 10 of their 15 vacation days to travel the world. It is actually much easier to simply quit, take an extended vacation and get back in the job search game when the time comes around. I recently had conversations with two people who are planning to do this exact thing.

Promotions are bogus, they ultimately end up leading to a lot more work for a little more pay. Non-Monetary rewards are usually unsatisfying as well. Life is important, traveling the world is important and volunteering is important. The sooner companies adapt their policies to fulfill these desires, the sooner worker satisfaction and productivity will increase.