With a desire to accomplish more and a determination to be reliable and hard-working, meeting deadlines head-on every time, employees often compromise on and cut-down their sleeping hours.
ILO’s Global Wage Report 2020-21 shows that Indians work about 48 hours per week, making it one of the top five in long working hours. Compare this with 37 hours in the USA and 36 in Israel and the UK.
Since Indians are already at a stretch at work, it’s best to limit their sleep sacrifice.
If it becomes a regular feature, you’ll see a marked difference in their quality of work and productivity even though they clock-in the required number of hours every day.
Why?
Sleep is a biological need. A series of bodily processes occur when we sleep which complement our daytime activities and recoups & reinvigorates, ready to face the morning again.
Even falling short on one hour of the daily sleep quota has the following effects on performance:
Lowered concentration
Sleep deprived individuals find trouble focusing which means their problem solving skills and learning abilities decline.
The short-term & working memory is impaired. Hence there are memory lapses, taking longer to complete tasks and are less creative.
Behavioural issues
Lack of sleep has an effect on emotions making the person stressed and anxious. This in turn causes them to be moody and prone to outbursts like being irritable or impatient which affects the team dynamics and a threat to work-related relationships.
Absenteeism
Sleeping less reduces the body’s chance at recovery and leads to numerous health issues as well. It puts people at an increased risk of not just heart disease and diabetes but compromises their immunity. This would make them fall ill more often and take days off work as well.
Employers have a major role in ensuring that their staff is well-rested since a happy and healthy workforce is the key to its functioning.
What is the way out?
Educate about sleep hygiene
Have sessions to talk about the negative effects of sleeplessness on our physical and mental well-being.
Guide employees to adopt a night routine that makes them sleep better and ask them to share practices they follow and how things changed for good with them.
Give special attention to frequent travellers. Take expert advice and pass them on to have a rested employee take charge wherever they go.
Ensure healthy work schedules
Encourage employees to shut off from work after work hours. This might seem counterintuitive from an employer’s point of view but it’s not. You will instead have a good productive resource for the next day and the next which negates all the effects of sleeplessness and the associated losses we talked about above.
Manage late night shift worker hours and days judiciously so as to not have them burdened and fatigued. Give ample time to settle in their routine and pay off any sleep debts.
Establish napping room
Taking a short nap of 20-30 mins is one of the remedies to deal with sleep deficit and escape any lasting effects.
Have a space for employees who can really do with a nap. And also make sure you have a comfortable bed so that they get the best sleep possible.
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It is important to identify sleep related issues among employees and address them since they raise health costs for the business along with lost revenue as a direct consequence of being less productive.
