How Can Sleep Enhance Workplace Productivity?
High-quality sleep is important for health and wellbeing and plays a significant role in enhancing employee productivity.
It might sound counterintuitive: more sleep means less time awake during the day and, therefore, reduced productivity. However, in today’s fast-paced and demanding work environment, the importance of sleep cannot be overstated. Adequate, high-quality sleep is important for individual health and wellbeing, playing a significant role in enhancing employee productivity.
The impact of poor sleep
Quality sleep is directly linked to cognitive function, decision-making, and overall job performance. Research consistently highlights that getting sufficient sleep means enhanced productivity during the workday. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine reports that sleep-deprived employees cost employers an estimated $136 billion a year in health-related lost productivity.
The costs associated with workplace productivity take an even steeper curve for individuals grappling with insomnia and other sleep disorders. They are responsible for 3.3 times higher costs related to workplace accidents and errors, compromising their safety and that of their colleagues.
Individuals who struggle with poor sleep can experience decreased cognitive abilities, increased likelihood of errors, and even higher levels of workplace accidents. Further, chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to increased risk of mental health issues, including anxiety and depression. Moreover, insufficient sleep weakens people’s immune systems, making them more susceptible to illness. According to the National Sleep Foundation, getting the recommended amount of uninterrupted sleep helps the brain recuperate and avoids many of the negative consequences of poor sleep on diverse aspects of thinking.
How can organizations support healthier sleep?
The first step is recognizing the impact of poor sleep on employee performance. Second, employers should identify populations most at risk for insomnia. The effects of poor sleep highly impact shift workers, like first responders, or those who work atypical schedules. But at the end of the day, poor sleep affects every industry.
Third, organizations should implement solutions to address their sleep-related challenges proactively. Today, flexibility is one of the most sought-after benefits—companies have adopted permanent flexible work schedules, remote work, or hybrid work policies since the pandemic. Following that, wellness offerings like health incentives to promote fitness and nutrition have become normalized, but practicing good sleep habits often get forgotten about.
Studies show that one out of two adults will suffer from insomnia in their life. This alarming statistic should not be taken lightly. It should be a wake-up call for employers to start taking sleep seriously. For the sake of cost-savings, and enhancing employee productivity, sure. But more importantly, for the health and happiness of employees.
Effective sleep solution options for employers
Although, all is not lost on sleep, or the lack thereof. Some companies have built nap pods into their physical office spaces to encourage short power naps, recognizing the cognitive benefits of a well-timed nap during the workday. Other organizations offer sleep wellness programs and incentives to employees.
One such solution is HALEO. HALEO helps organizations enhance employee productivity and benefit cost savings by optimizing their employees’ sleep and wellbeing using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I).
In fact, CBT-I is rapidly becoming one of the most notable solutions gaining traction in the corporate world. Unlike medication-based approaches, CBT-I is an evidence-based, non-pharmacological treatment that addresses the root causes of insomnia. It focuses on changing negative thought patterns and behaviors related to sleep, promoting healthier sleep habits.
Studies have shown that CBT-I not only improves sleep quality but also has a positive impact on individual’s overall productivity and mental health. Organizations like the Montreal Police Department are increasingly recognizing the value of providing access to CBT-I as part of their employee wellness programs, acknowledging its effectiveness in addressing sleep-related challenges.
Getting back to better sleep
The connection between sleep and employee productivity is a critical consideration across all industries. Prioritizing sleep positively impacts cognitive abilities, job performance, and overall wellbeing. Sleep is one piece of employee wellbeing, but an important one. HALEO works with Businessolver to help organizations like yours support employees with resources to take care of themselves, like getting better sleep.
Tune into the Benefits Pulse Vodcast to get additional strategies for building a holistic wellbeing strategy to support your employees: Benefits Pulse | Workplace Wellbeing
