“People need to take a relaxing break from work!” says luxury hotel, via psychologist-for-hire
Unused holidays blamed on heavy workloads and fear of losing job – claims survey
Workers should be encouraged to take holidays, as 40% say they rarely use all of their allotted time off.
The average leave is 23 days a year but staff blamed heavy workloads, fears over losing their job and reluctance to be out of the office for not taking their full entitlement, Hilton Hotels & Resorts found.
Eagle-eyed Bad PR spotters would have noticed the name of the company behind the survey – Hilton Hotels. But they’re not the only ones backing this research:
Behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings said: “Taking a break from work, or spending quality time with others, helps mentally, physically and emotionally.
“With a lot of businesses stretched to capacity, it’s worrying to see that many individuals are not taking all of the time off to which they’re entitled.
It’s good to see Jo Hemmings expressing genuine concern for the health of today’s workforce. I assume she’s doing so having done legitimate psychological research in the matter, rather than having been hired by Hilton Hotels to invent a plausible-sounding reason why people should visit a Hilton Hotel, right? Come on, you know the drill by now:
“Britain’s workforce should be encouraged to take regular time out to recharge their batteries.
“Taking a break from work and enjoying a holiday helps workers both mentally and physically, which really improves their productivity when they go back to work.”
Indeed, Jo Hemmings was hired by Hilton. In fact, she wasn’t only hired by Hilton – her website proudly lists an extraordinary list of clients and PR companies who Jo has sold her expertise to:
Having worked for PR companies as an expert for many years, where a psychological or relationship analysis is needed, and as a regular commentator on the psychological analysis of celebrities and other newsworthy events on TV and radio, Jo is aware how easy it can be to miss opportunities for brand awareness. With a love of social media and a healthy Twitter following, she can now be involved in your campaigns at an earlier level, creating and developing top-line survey topics and questions that will maximise human interest and news coverage. Jo can help you turn a proposed PR campaign into a story that will stand out from the crowd.
If anything says ‘legitimate and credible research’, it’s a psychologist offering to ensure opportunities for ‘brand awareness’ are not lost.
Still, it’s legitimate research still, right? Jo, after all, is a professional psychologist – it’s not like she’d lend a comment on research carried out by, say, Bad PR regulars Onepoll, right? Oh. Oh dear.