Sleep at work: the question keeping staff up at night

Caught your employees sleeping at work? You might actually want to close an eye on that.

In fact, you might even thank yourself for encouraging your employees to take a nap during office hours, since studies now show that this can improve their performance at work.

According to the World Economic Forum, naps as short as 10-to-30 minutes can increase alertness, and reduce fatigue, thereby improving overall performance.

But why is taking a nap at work only being encouraged now, and not previously? One reason is that the line between work and personal time is getting blurred all the time – with the ubiquitous smartphone helping merge the two.

According to Statista, there are 2.71 billion smartphone users in the world in 2019: one in three human beings on the planet. It means work has become more accessible outside of working hours and employees can be contacted any time – on or off the job.

And what does that lead to? Yes, you guessed right – less sleep! The study’s author, Jamie Gruman of the University of Guelph in Canada, argues that if employees are going to be required to be available after working hours, they should also be allowed to sleep on the job.

Only time will tell if his reasoning catches on.