Annual leave is a part of work that serves not only to the benefit of the stuff. The employees who rest well will work well afterwards. Therefore, the work process should be a mix of work and rest to provide the best work/life balance. Korean employees who do not have a sufficient amount of rest not only threaten their own health. This also affects their productivity that disrupts the work process and lowers productivity.

South Korea is an area of vast opportunities. Local citizens have a generalized Asian character. They are hardworking and share the principles of leadership where authoritative employees are exemplars for employees. This type of workforce means that they will work as much as possible.

Although every employee has three weeks a year for recreation, Koreans seem to neglect this right in favor of a shorter three-day weekend as an exception. This tendency is kept not only for current organization. Koreans greatly exceed the annual number of work hours which is 600 hours more than the average American. Such hard work could be beneficial for organizations if it did not have drawbacks. The work overload is a national tendency that cannot be influenced unless specific measures are taken with consideration of cultural peculiarities.

South Korean President acknowledges the national tendency and announced that all state workers should take 16 days of vacation over the year. However, this has not greatly improved the situation.

The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development places South Korea deep down in the list of 30 world’s largest economies in terms of productivity. The major cause for this is attributed to overworked employees. The tension due to non-stop work results in stress and physical illnesses as well as lowered efficiency and productivity.

The investigation across the company revealed major reasons behind the unwillingness to take days off. All senior staff appeared to be as reluctant to take a leave as all the rest of employees. This means that ultimately the whole hierarchy of the organization follows the same behavioral pattern and neglect the right for recreation. Moreover, the President of South Korea took only four days off since his election in 2008. At the same time period, the author of the 16-day-off policy did not have a single day of rest.

Having such data, it would be strange to expect a different behavior of average employees. In terms of undesired pattern that duplicates throughout the nation, the actions must involve several key personalities in order to create a convincing factor of change.

The problem lies in cultural peculiarities of the region. Americans belong to individualistic society and tend to “do their own business,” i.e. take personal benefits over all. Americans would take as many days for recreation as they are allowed. Asian culture is collectivistic. This means that they tend to follow a unified pattern appropriate for everyone.

First of all, the HR manager should write a memo for the senior management to highlight the need for promotion of rest carried out by them. Some act that would show the rest of employees that the company’s officials take time for recreation. This act should be widely publicized within the company. Secondly, the so-called “enlightened” American manager has not had the rest as well. Therefore, it will be appropriate to show a good example and finally take a leave for both personal benefit and showing a positive example of change.

Such motivational tactics is tied with leadership and personal example. In the culture where authorities rule the masses, the personal example of those who are respected for their higher position will create the desired impact.