5 reasons you need to add sleep to your wellness program
May 11, 2016 11:28 AM
5 reasons you need to add sleep to your wellness program
Is sleep the next frontier of workplace wellness? It sure seems likely. Lack of sleep is fast becoming a workplace epidemic, according to new research from staffing firm Accountemps, having a negative impact on both employees and employers. Here are five reasons why sleep needs to become a priority in your workplace.
1. It’s a widespread problem.
If you think fatigue only affects a small part of your workforce, think again. A whopping 74% of U.S. workers say they work while tired, with nearly one-third (31%) saying they do so very often. Men (77%) are more prone to being tired in the workplace than women (71%), and younger workers — those 18-34 — are most often sleep-deprived, with 86% saying they work tired.
2. Lack of sleep is making your employees more prone to mistakes.
Exhaustion is to blame for plenty of mistakes at work — like paying everyone twice or deleting a project that took 1,000 hours to put together. Those were just two mistakes mentioned by tired employees in the Accountemps survey of more than 1,000 professionals.
3. It’s hurting your business.
In addition to making mistakes, employees cited lack of focus or being easily distracted (52%), procrastinating more (47%) and being grumpy (38%) among the consequences of fatigue.
4. It’s leading to bigger problems.
What’s worse, if employers don’t take action, lack of sleep can lead to bigger problems in the workplace — such as burnout, turnover and a negative corporate culture, along with lost sales and productivity, explains Bill Driscoll, district president of Accountemps.
5. Employees want help.
Employer support can help the growing epidemic. Driscoll suggests employers implement flexible work schedules and telecommuting options; encourage employees to take breaks; and bring in temporary professionals to ease workloads as possible solutions to the sleep problem.
Nap rooms are also a possible solution; they already are implemented by savvy tech firms including Google, Apple and AOL. It looks like employees would embrace them, too: 55% of workers said they would use a nap room if their employer offered one.
Nap rooms are also a possible solution; they already are implemented by savvy tech firms including Google, Apple and AOL. It looks like employees would embrace them, too: 55% of workers said they would use a nap room if their employer offered one.
