If you had a disturbed sleep last night for – say, barely two hours – how efficient would you feel in office the next day? Being sleepy all day and suffering headaches and indigestion, how many deadlines would you be able to meet? Well, the answer is obvious, and so is the pressing need for a healthy sleep routine. In today's fast-paced corporate world, employees often find themselves working long hours and even sacrificing sleep to meet deadlines and fulfil their duties. However, sleep deprivation can have a detrimental effect on employee productivity and well-being. To address this issue, Ignite (a BS marketing initiative) has launched a sleep day initiative ‘Good Sleep=Good Health’, specifically designed for corporate employees and employers.
‘Good Sleep = Good Health’ is a sleep awareness initiative for corporate entities which centres on good sleep as a tool for maintaining good health in the 21st century work environment. The initiative dives deep into the challenges and solutions for disturbed sleep among corporate employees. Presented by Kurlon, the ‘Good Sleep = Good Health’ initiative includes conversations around the importance of sleep, misconceptions about the subject, what responsible companies can do to bring a change, interaction with doctors, and much more.
We spoke to a number of human resources leaders to understand their perspective on the subject and the senior director of human resources at Acer India, Bhasker Bhandary said, “Sleep is the recent wellness concern that corporates are focusing on to promote employee health and wellness. At Acer we have been introducing numerous health and well-being initiatives for employees and under the Health, Happiness, Honour and Help initiatives which we call as 4H initiatives. I believe corporates need to look at holistic well-being of employees and not in bits and pieces. Also the relationship between the manager and their team is crucial to maintaining a positive workplace culture and work-life balance so we also focus a lot on inter-personal aspects and training.”
The Head – HR, India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products, Isha Goyal said, “As per a 2014 study conducted by Interdepartmental Neuroscience program at Northwestern University in Chicago in partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, employees with windows in the workplace slept an average of 46 minutes more per night than those without. To improve the health and wellbeing of employees, the architectural design of the office space might be altered to provide adequate daylight exposure. Our corporate headquarters, Godrej One, in Mumbai, where 1300+ group employees are present, has been built to maximise sunlight exposure.”
Susan Mathew who is the director of HR India at LinkedIn said, “Imortance of a good night’s sleep is undeniable. It is scientifically proven that sleeping 7-8 hours daily helps our brain function at its optimal level. When employees are overworked and unable to maintain a healthy work-life balance, they may experience sleep deprivation, which can lead to cognitive impairment, mood and motivation issues, decline in physical health, and decreased productivity. Our research finds that Indians are aware of these risks, with 1 in 3 professionals looking to switch to roles that offer greater work-life balance this year. Companies should encourage their employees to set an optimal work routine that gives them enough time to rest and invest more in their well-being. This will ultimately help them be more productive and feel better about their work.”
The CHRO of Jindal Stainless Sushil Baveja said that several studies point towards a good night’s sleep boosting employee performance and poor sleep affecting productivity, besides increasing the risk of health issues, such as depression and heart ailments. Corporations can encourage regular wellness sessions that help employees unwind, besides adopting practices such as yoga or non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) to manage hectic work schedules better. They, at Jindal Stainless, host a weekly Utthaan session to help employees achieve emotional awareness and well-being and tackle life situations better, personal or professional."
The Executive Director of Century Ply Nikita Bansal said, “Sleep definitely plays a vital role in an employee’s job performance as it goes hand in hand. It’s imperative one gets sufficient sleep to function at their best, but it’s quite a struggle for corporates as they can’t really address this because of their personal preferences. One might have a relaxing work environment and balanced working hours, but still might not be able to get sound sleep because of their habits or choice of living. For instance, people these days have a tendency of fidgeting on their mobile phones and binge-watching shows at night. But its suggestive one shouldn’t do that because that puts a lot of stress on one’s eyes resulting in sleep deprivation. Especially this generation is seen to have sleeping disorders like Insomnia and Sleep Apnea, which are serious issues but then again, it's challenging for organisations to address such personal issues. Hence as corporates, all we can do is ensure a good work life balance in our organisation and promote the same, but beyond that it’s again one’s personal choice. We can help them with healthy suggestions & do our bit for healthy living. But that’s that. The rest depends completely on their realization and willingness to change for their own betterment“
The ‘Good Sleep=Good Health’ initiative, presented by Kurlon, is an attempt to help employees and employers understand benefits of good sleep for better personal and organisational growth.