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With technology keeping us connected around-the-clock, the divide between our professional and personal lives continue to be blurred.

A workplace sabbatical would provide eligible full-time employees with a pre-determined schedule for taking extended time off to pursue personal interests or to be with family.

Not only would your employees be recharged by virtue of a sabbatical, but they would be very clear that their company cares about their well-being and not just the bottom-line.

Now, it is the Millennials’ turn to be the whipping boys, and girls. Their attitudes are in sharp contrast with those of the Boomers who are increasingly running the organizations where they work. While Boomers believe strongly in the value of experience and working your way up, Millennials are seen as feeling entitled and over-pampered by parents only too well aware of how challenging the workplace has become for those who are not sufficiently prepared

Millennials are significantly more likely to ask for a pay rise and a promotion than their counterparts in either of the preceding generations

they are also rather more likely than their elders to complain of long hours.

A generation gap is widening in the workplace. As baby boomers (ages 51 to 69 or so) express reluctance about retiring, so-called millennials (roughly ages 18 to 34) have become the single largest demographic in the American labor force. Because of this, more older workers have found themselves being hired and managed by people much younger than they are

Robert Goldfarb, 85, a working management consultant. “The moment I enter the office of a prospective client, there’s an elephant in the room,” he wrote. “My age.”

I doubt anyone will be surprised to hear that many readers emphasized staying current with technology. Many also pointed out that this is easier to do than ever: From instructional YouTube videos to courses at your local library, the resources are endless.

The workplace has traditionally consisted of “old-timers” with 20 to 30 years of experience under their belts and the young “hot-shots” who know-it-all. The younger workers have historically viewed older workers as stuck in their ways.

Employees love workplace flexibility, and employers should, too, since it's linked with increased productivity and higher job satisfaction.

Some new behavioral evidence suggests that some bosses will harbor biases against employees with flexible work schedules without even realizing it.

So in the eyes of a boss, a late-arriving worker may be no different from a bad worker

Many firms, including 25 percent of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For, now offer sabbaticals. These typically four- to 10-week pauses allow employees time out to focus on their needs instead of the organization’s. 

Most organizations offer sabbaticals to employees who have been there for a certain period of time (at least five to seven years is common), and employees may take multiple sabbaticals so long as they work a minimum number of years in between. This provides an incentive for workers to remain at a company longer.

Adobe Systems encourages its employees to use their breaks to do volunteer work. Then they promote the good deeds in the Adobe Life magazine, a website directed at attracting new talent. Companies that have formal career pauses advertise them as part of the benefits package, like Boston Consulting Group’s Time For You/Flexleave program, which allows workers with just 12-months of time onboard to take an eight-week unpaid break to recharge.

A 2015 Gallup Poll found that Millennials are the least engaged cohort in the workplace, with only 28.9% saying that they are engaged at work. This, combined with high turnover rates and greater freelance and entrepreneurial opportunities, means that if companies want to retain these valued workers, they will have to double their efforts to meet Millennials where they are

A 2015 report on Millennials from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce emphasized flex-time as one way to do this — it found that three out of four Millennials reported that work-life balance drives their career choice

Multiple studies have revealed that Millennials are keen to see their work as addressing larger societal concerns

Maybe this is because I’m young, but, like, I don’t think that there is a lot about my personal life that I wouldn’t want to incorporate into what I’m doing professionally,”