Sleeplessness and Fatigue: The Hidden Monster Impacting Your Bottom Line
By Dr Ashish Mishra
The market-place is flooded with disruptions today – innovative, unique solutions that make you question, why did I not think of this? Every individual wants to challenge the status quo, stand out from the crowd, and go above and beyond what is expected of them at the workplace, leading to more time being spent nowadays at the workplace than outside of it.
A fellow passenger remarked “Always ON, huh?” when she saw me quickly typing an email before take-off. Complaining about being unable to disconnect, she went on to tell me how ten years back when she stepped into the IT services sector, she had the energy and zealousness to take the world by the storm. Today, her ambition to be a business leader may not have been side-stepped altogether, but she recognizes that it exponentially takes a lot more to get there.
A survey in 2016, conducted by the Japanese government, revealed that roughly 20 per cent of the Japanese workforce is at risk of “karoshi” or “death from overwork” - employees committing suicide or suffering from heart failure and stroke because of long work hours. Culturally, India is not very far from Japan in harbouring the age-old perception that long hours, leading to tiredness or fatigue, are equivalent to hard work. Coming in early to the office, staying late, and seeking sustenance in endless mugs of coffee, is often seen as the ideal representation of a ‘hardworking employee’.
Youth, fresh out of college, plunge into work with vigour to prove their value. As the Indian work culture slowly seeps in, stretching themselves beyond their limits becomes a part of their work life. The need to take time off, whether to pursue a hobby, travel or even to spend time with family takes a back seat. In fact, it has increasingly become a norm that one needs to invest more in their careers to excel in it. So much so, that there is virtually no room to disconnect and be unavailable to your organization, boss, or client.
Mental burnout has a direct correlation with organizational efficiency, as well as company culture – an obvious, but very often overlooked factor in employee wellness initiatives.
Also consider its impact within the confines of a shop floor - a distracted employee handling heavy machinery, or a sleepy driver transporting hazardous cargo – a small error on their part can not only lead to accidents, injuries, and sometimes fatalities, but can also significantly affect employee morale, and ultimately the company bottom line.
Sleeping in the office is no longer taboo. In recent years, more and more US companies have begun to concede their employees an afternoon siesta (the so-called nap), an opportunity that can bring many benefits to the employees and the company itself. Not only employee productivity but even creativity increases multi-fold when employees are well-rested, offering a positive impact that increases the well-being of both the office and the bottom line. Napping also improves attention, concentration, and mood, making way for fewer absences and accidents at work.
The responsibility of managing this lifestyle issue appropriately rests with both the employer and employee. The world’s most innovative companies are recognizing this elephant in the room and are addressing it directly. Since an individual spends the majority of his waking time of the day in the workplace, it puts the onus on the organization to build a culture that promotes wellness and wellbeing. The key to ensure the efficient fatigue management is to have 7 – 9 hours of sleep every day, eat well, exercise regularly and seek timely advice in case of any sleep-related issues. Most companies don’t have specific policies that encourage employees to get sufficient sleep or rest — and they should. All the safety training and policies in the world will not reduce a company’s workplace accident rates if the employees are sleep-deprived.
~ The author is Health Director– Dow Chemical International Pvt. Ltd. (Middle East, Africa, Southern Europe and India).
