The Wellness Perspective – Employees Who Keep Asking for Time Off

When employees ask for extra leave, part-time hours, or more flexible schedules, it’s easy for leaders and managers to feel frustrated.

From the outside, it might seem like people are less committed, harder to rely on, or simply trying to do the bare minimum.

Some of the things you might have observed are:
🔴 Frequent requests for changes to rosters or hours
🔴 Pushback on attending meetings or completing extra tasks
🔴 Regular expressions of exhaustion, overwhelm, or burnout

While these behaviours can be discouraging—especially in already busy teams—they often stem from deeper reasons.

What’s Really Going On?

On the surface, it might seem like employees are just disengaged or lack drive.

However, there are often deeper issues contributing to their struggle:

🌿 They don’t know how to regulate their energy or recharge while working.
🌿 They’ve developed habits of coping with stress through avoidance or detachment.
🌿 They’ve never been taught how to recognise misalignment between their actions and values.

All of these can trigger:
👉 Disengagement
👉 Inconsistent performance
👉 Interpersonal tension and team friction

And when left unaddressed, they lead to high turnover, reduced productivity, and low morale across the team.

Coaching addresses these root causes by helping individuals reconnect with what fuels them—mentally, emotionally, and physically.

It supports them in:

• Reflecting on their energy patterns and identifying sources of imbalance

• Gaining clarity around what’s working, what’s draining them, and why

• Rebuilding sustainable habits that align with both their personal and professional values

Here’s how we do it:

🎯 Help individuals shift from passive to proactive energy management
🎯 Guide teams to balance personal responsibility with organisational expectations
🎯 Equip leaders with tools to model and support realistic, values-based wellbeing

Why This Matters

When people understand how to take ownership of their energy, they stop relying on time off as the only solution.

They become more resilient. More consistent. More aligned.
They contribute with purpose instead of just surviving the day.

This creates stronger, healthier teams that are engaged, empowered, and prepared to perform—without burning out.

What Can You Do?

As a starting point, organisations can:
1️. Encourage regular check-ins focused on energy, not just performance
2️. Invest in coaching and education around boundaries, recovery, and values-alignment
3️. Equip leaders to role model real balance—by protecting their own energy, too

Have you noticed a growing demand for flexibility, but not always the results you'd hoped for?

Coaching can bridge the gap between what’s visible and what’s really going on—unlocking solutions that create lasting change.

🌿 Let us know how we can support you and your team with our coaching and education solutions.

Because when balance is built in, not just hoped for—everyone wins.