There are plenty of reasons for thinking about the well-being of your staff. As Lucent has suggested to you before, happier people tend to more productive. A 2010 study showed that the happiest group of employees spent on average 78% of their day on task compared with 53% for the least happy group1. That's four days a week on the job versus two and a half days - an eye watering difference in terms of productivity. And we've all read about the amount that stressed employees cost our companies in terms of lost productivity. Investigations of work stress show that employees with good levels of mental health tend to be more resilient and are less vulnerable to stress. And a number of rigorous and well regarded studies have shown that interventions designed to reduce stress and build resilience can significantly reduce sick days and absenteeism, as well as increasing well-being2.
In the last couple of weeks, two new studies have been published which shed light on these issues from rather different angles. The first is a study about cyberloafing- wasting indecent amounts of time unproductively surfing the net at work– which has been estimated to cost companies £330m a year3. Using impressively rigorous methodologies the study found that when people are sleep deprived, even to a relatively minor degree (40 minutes per night) or when they suffered from interrupted sleep, they spent more time cyberloafing the next day. The effects weren't the same for all participants; people who had greater conscientiousness were less prey to the effects of sleep interruption on their online loafing behaviour, but even their augmented self discipline didn't keep them free from the effects of sleep deprivation on their cyber behaviour.
The second study has a top class methodology as it was randomised and controlled and shows that it is possible to improve well-being and reduce sleep deprivation through simple means4. 239 employees from a single company who were otherwise healthy but described themselves as stressed were selected to participate in the trial. They were randomly allocated to a 12 week course of either an hour's yoga a week or an hour's mindfulness training or to a control group who were given information about workplace stress. At the end of the 12 weeks, people from the yoga and mindfulness groups reported lower stress levels and also showed an improved cardiac pattern in response to stress indicating that they had learnt useful techniques for coping with stress. They also reported better sleep quality. This demonstrates the potential value of simple stress reduction programmes in the workplace.
We know that sleep deprivation isn't good for most people (some Prime Ministers are commonly cited exceptions, but we can't speak for their mental well-being!) and it's not good for companies either. The first study gives an interesting illustration of how stress and sleep deprivation can adversely affect performance and lead to reduced productivity in unexpected ways. We also know that, in more extreme cases, it can be a precursor to burnout, which costs businesses millions of pounds a year5. The second study shows that quite simple (and reasonably low cost) steps such as offering activities that actively promote relaxation and coping strategies help to protect us all against the pressures of tough times.
References
1 Pryce-Jones, J. & Lutterbie, S. (2010). Why leveraging the science of happiness at work matters: The happy and productive employee. Assessment and Development Matters, 2 (4), 6-9.
2 Bond, F.W. & Bunce, D. (2003).The Role of Acceptance & Job Control on Mental Health, Job Satisfaction & Work Performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, (6), 1057-1067; Bond, F.W., Flaxman, P.E., & Bunce, D. (2008). The Influence of Psychological Flexibility on Work Redesign: Mediated Moderation of a Work Reorganization Intervention. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, (3), 645-654.
3 Wagner, D.T., Barnes, C.M., Lim, V.K. & Ferris, D.L. (2012). Lost Sleep and Cyberloafing: Evidence From the Laboratory and a Daylight Saving Time Quasi-Experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, DOI: 10.1037/a00275507.
4 Wolever, R., Bobinet, K., McCabe, K., Mackenzie, E., Fekete, E., Kusnick, C., & Baime, M. (2012). Effective and viable mind-body stress reduction in the workplace: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17 (2), 246-258.
5 http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2007/c07021.htm
