From MeetingNews

Survey Says Planners Are Workaholics

Perhaps representing the perfect microcosm of the American workforce, meeting planners are working hard at their jobs and find it difficult to take extended periods of time off.

The latest MeetingNews survey of nearly 460 meeting planners indicates that just half of them expect to use all of their available vacation days this year. Further, more than one-third of respondents feel they can take off for just two or three straight days without falling behind at work.

The survey results brought no astonishment to the planners interviewed for comment, though they were somewhat surprised by the high number of planners (61 percent) who return straight to work after an event. All spoke of devising tactics to preserve much-needed personal time away from their jobs—such as a self-imposed rule of turning off the computer after a certain hour each day, to pursuing outside interests, to scheduling off days around the events they plan.

“I love my company, but it’s not the be all and end all,” said Jennifer Collins, president of Washington, DC-based Event Planning Group LLC. “I work with my church and volunteer organization, for my spiritual and emotional well-being. Otherwise, life is nothing more than your job.” Like Collins, Kimberly Ruby, meetings and events manager for Philadelphia-based Day & Zimmerman, an industrial services supplier, realizes the importance of downtime in maintaining her mental health. “On the weekend, I have a rule of not touching e-mail unless I’m prepared to handle what I may find,” said Ruby. “And, I don’t touch e-mail after dinner on any day.”

Collins, Ruby, and Candy Adams, a Vista, CA-based independent planner and trade show consultant, all schedule at least one day off around their events. Adams said because her events typically end on Thursdays or Fridays, she often remains in a destination for the weekend. Ruby usually negotiates a comp room and schedules personal spa time at her host property a day or two before her event, or she’ll take time off afterward either at the destination or back at home. One of planner Kathleen O’Donnell’s vacation weeks each year is always tied to the International Ticketing Association’s summer conference. The organization pays the return airfare for its deputy director, and she pays her own way once the conference is over.

But, true to the MN data, none feel they should take off work for more than a week at a time. Although Ruby said she can take more than a week off and not fall behind on work, she nevertheless feels uncomfortable doing so.

Collins said the underlying reason for the long hours that planners work with abandon is a result of their type-A personalities mixed with America’s workaholic culture. Ruby suggested that stress-related illnesses among overworked meeting planners will increase if many don’t stand up for additional resources and support. Said Ruby, “I understand when planners say they feel they can’t step away, but my answer is, ‘You’re understaffed.’ If your boss sees everything moving along perfectly, what’s his motivation to add help?” Ruby added that planners should wait for an opportune time to address problems; first do your homework, she said, such as being sure there’s money in the budget for part- or full-time help.

Intrusive bosses and clients are another occupational hazard, making uninterrupted personal time difficult to come by. “I’ve had calls from my CEO during my vacation,” said Ruby. “His assistant should’ve handled it, but he knew I could get things done.”

For Adams, a former planner for Intel Corp., working as an independent means having to build—and keep—business, and that meant taking work along on her first vacation in four years recently; a client dumped two last-minute meetings on her just before her Hawaiian cruise. However, as an independent planner, she does enjoy “the ability to take off at 3 pm on a Friday,” she said. “The mentality in the corporate world is, ‘You can’t leave.’”

“I really feel corporate bosses would work their staffs dead if they could,” said Collins, who worked for six years as a corporate planner. “People feel they don’t have a choice and are afraid something might happen to their job. At that point, you might consider finding another position and a better organizational culture that suits a better quality of life.” —William Ng