I’m surprised it counts as news that ‘Irish workers are sleep deprived, stressed and not giving 100%’
What I don’t like is the implication there that it’s their fault. Not giving 100% should have read ‘not able to give 100% because they are sleep deprived and stressed’, in my opinion.
Sleep Neuroscientist Prof Jim Horne’s study was reported on in the Irish Times this week and there’s a lot we would expect and which we usually ignore:
80% of us admit when we get a poor night’s sleep we deliver a poor day’s work.
More than 1 in 3 of us are exhausted every day.
82.5 per cent of the Irish workforce cited workplace stress as a key cause of their disrupted sleep.
Professor Horne’s punchline is:
“Most work situations require individuals to make critical decisions, remain focussed and complete tasks within a timely and efficient manner. However, it’s clear from these findings that sleep loss can impair attention to detail amongst workers,”
The article goes on to say “Last month, sleep expert Els van der Helm – who spoke at the Great Place to Work annual conference in Dublin’s Mansion House – said “sleep deprivation is a global epidemic that’s hurting us on multiple levels”.
Prof van der Helm said that while companies have cottoned on to the advantages of having well-rested employees, the emphasis was on how having a healthy lifestyle could support strong work performance.
“People were eating well, taking exercise and doing things like yoga and training in stress and time management, but were ignorant of the fact that sleep is the foundation for good health and therefore for good performance.”
So what can we do if work is a source of elevated stress?
Typically we’re all aware that there are ways we can feel better, but that’s a long way from businesses committing to do something about it.
While management wants to help employees they are caught between shareholders and those under pressure. The bottom line is it has to make more money to deal with the problem than to ignore it.
That’s an easier case than most realise.
The UK’s NHS estimates 45% of all sick days are due to stress and this is supported by the UK 2016 Labour Force Survey (LFS).
People being present at work but working below par is estimated to be over twice the cost of absenteeism. (Evidence shows a ratio of 1:2.5 for the cost of absenteeism to presenteeism – British Heart Foundation).
The cost of staff turnover, or ‘churn’ if bad, is huge. It takes time to replace and train up skilled people who are used to the companies way of doing things and ‘about a fifth of staff turnover can be related to stress at work’. (CIPD, 2008a)
It’s also relevant to safety at work – “among employees who state that they ‘always work under pressure’, the accident rate is about five times higher than that of employees who are ‘never’ subject to pressurised work (Eurofound, 2007).”
A calm workplace is a safer workplace, one where people stay, and one which makes more money. It can be a win for all from the newest employee to the oldest shareholder to reduce stress.
We’ve put together a cost calculator based on the NHS figures which you can use for free here:
http://achievementfulfilment.com/stress-cost-calculator/
You can also find the British Hearth Foundation Absenteeism Cost Calculator here:
https://www.bhf.org.uk/health-at-work/get-started/cost-savings-calculator
Whether you’re the employee or the owner stress stays until someone makes the case for change.
That’s much easier to point to the value of it when you look at the solid evidence of how it will make health better, the working day easier, and the profits higher all at one.
The NHS also estimates that even simple steps and training can cut the financial cost of stress by at least 30%. This is supported by the findings of the Health at Work Economic Evidence Report 2016.
For more information on how we can make dealing with stress into something that saves money, improves health, and gives a happier workplace call or email us.
Have a great week,
John
John Prendergast (Hy.Psych)
Co-Founder Achievement Fulfilment.
John@AchievementFulfilment.com
085 13 13 700
