be concerned about worker sleep health
Workplace Well-Being
Q. How can you and other researchers publicize the hidden but massive costs imposed by inflexible workplace management so that managers learn to do better by their employees? The short-term emphasis on benchmarks and cutting costs, at the longer-term expense of institutional health, employee well-being, customer service and societal balance is very destructive. -- Dean, U.S.
A. Businesses should be concerned about worker sleep health, as Dean points out, for the many destructive impacts of having a narrow, short-term focus. Coincidentally, this narrowness of focus mirrors the mental state of sleep-deprived individuals. In the United States, being at work but not fully functional because of insomnia (called "presenteeism") has been estimated to cost $63 billion annually. We have evidence of multiple pathways by which the workplace impacts health and wellness.
Management can either be a part of the problem, or be a part of long-term solutions. We need evidence-based solutions that both improve worker health and benefit employers. Stay tuned. We also need a platform for broader conversations, like this Booming blog, than academic journals offer, because in part this is a social problem of cultural norms around balancing work and nonwork, the corporation and the individual.
Awaiting the billable nap