Why sleep matters
The UK loses just over 200,000 working days a year due to sleep deprivation among its workforce.
In recent years, businesses have clocked on to the importance of employee wellbeing. However, one fundamental part of employee health and happiness is often overlooked, sleep.
It has previously been estimated that lack of sleep among UK workers is costing the economy up to £40 billion a year, which is 1.86 per cent of the country's GDP. And that, shockingly, if individuals that slept under six hours per night started sleeping six to seven hours, roughly £23.9bn could be added to the UK economy. [1] Thinking about this in terms of days, it has been suggested that the UK loses just over 200,000 working days a year due to sleep deprivation among its workforce. [2] With figures such as these demonstrating a clear relationship between sleep and the economy, we make sure it is an integral part of our wellness strategy with each of our wellness partners.
In addition to the physical absenteeism from the office, lack of quality sleep considerably affects individual performance at work. Sleepless nights lead to lower efficiency and lower productivity and according to the NHS, bad sleepover a long period of time will lead to more serious mental health effects.
In order to get the best out of employees, we can no longer turn a blind eye to the importance of sleep. It is time to recognise and promote its significance throughout the office through our WLW simple steps. Yes, in a "dream" scenario ‘nap rooms’ or ‘sleep pods’ would be available across offices nationwide but of course this in not feasible. However, what is, is letting staff know the importance of sleep hygiene for physical and mental wellness. This can be done simply through provoking thought around the importance of sleep; share latest statistics and articles about sleep matters, sharing ideas or methods to put in place to help promote better quality sleep, provide employees with the WorkLifeWell Sleep workshop and other incentives.
Get in touch to find out how we can support you to promote sleep hygiene and other wellness matters that will keep staff working life well.
Author: Dr Adam Greenfield, Co-founder of WorkLifeWell | Chiropractor | Wellness Specialist
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[1] Rand Europe: WhySleep Matters: Quantifying the Economic Costs of Insufficient Sleep https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1791.html
