Why sleep is a strategic resource

• Autores: Christopher M. Barnes, Gretchen Spreitzer
• Localización: MIT Sloan management review, ISSN 1532-9194, Vol. 56, Nº 2, 2015, págs. 19-21
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Generally speaking, managers assume that simply getting the right talent in their organizations will lead to high levels of productivity. But this assumption ignores the fact that people often do not function at their best on an everyday basis. When work demands are high, people can become stressed, burned out and generally fatigued resulting in compromised performance. Regular sleep is the best antidote for a fatigued or stressed-out work-force. Of course, because sleep is in the realm of employees private lives, organizations have generally shied away from trying to influence it, even in an era of controlling health-care costs through encouraging preventive behaviors. Sleep is a strategic resource. Organizations should both encourage and create a sleep-supportive culture and set of practices. Even small deficits of sleep can have negative consequences. The National Sleep Foundation notes that adults typically need seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Yet on any given day, 29.9% of Americans report having slept for less than six hours the previous night. Sleep loss is influenced by the workplace demands and expectations of employers. Rather than taking an employees sleep as a given, leaders should create sleep-supportive cultures and practices. Practices such as managing work schedules, providing good role models and reinforcing sleep-protecting behaviors can help companies move in the right direction