This week, we start working our way through Maslow’s hierarchy, reflecting on what employees need from their employers. We start at the foundation: physical or physiological needs like food, shelter, and clothing. Obtaining those by means of wages or salary is of course why employees work in the first place. It isn’t employers’ responsibility to satisfy those needs directly; but it’s also incumbent on them not to get in the way – which is where many organizations trip up. Why? Food, shelter, and clothing aren’t our only fundamental needs. There’s one need we routinely violate: the need for sleep. Our jobs contribute a lot to that.
Short sleep is a plague in the United States, for a whole host of reasons. Our society is very work-centric. Busy-ness is a signal of value, and long hours a badge of honor. On top of that, many of us have plenty of work to do outside of our jobs: stuff like raising kids, taking care of parents, managing our households, and taking care of ourselves! The conundrum of “work-life balance” lies in trying to get all the work done, and it’s exhausting.
Terrible things happen when human beings don’t get enough sleep – things that harm us in the short term and hobble us in the long term. Right away, lack of sleep dampens creativity and resilience – which can’t be good for those working in the challenging field of behavioral health and for the clients and patients we care for. Sleepy employees are less effective at work and 70% more likely to be involved in workplace accidents. Chronic undersleep damages our health; it’s associated with heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. It’s a contributing factor to depression and mental illness. If you’re interested in more information, we recommend reading Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker.
Adequate sleep improves productivity at work, our ability to connect with and support other people, and our level of happiness. Meeting research-based recommendations of 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night and getting a half-hour of moderate exercise every day decreases risk of illness, gives us more energy, and increases our life expectancy.
It’s typical for employers to incentivize or expect long hours of their salaried workers and flexible scheduling of their hourly employees, both of which can impact sleep. Many organizations sponsor wellness programs that encourage sleep, exercise, stress reduction, and so forth. That’s a fantastic step in the right direction. But that leaves everything to the individual and can’t be the only solution. Sometimes the scope or expectations of jobs themselves make it impossible to combine them with outside responsibilities and a full night of sleep. Especially when businesses are trying to do more with less. Think about it: are jobs in your organization sustainable (by design) for people who need space in their lives for more than only work? Do your employees, your team members, your associates, your colleagues, get enough sleep? Do you?
Healthcare is a 24/7 industry. Its tradition and ethics impose high levels of commitment, all while the nature of caregiving roles means they’re emotionally taxing as well as physically and mentally tiring. The last few years have made the “off switch” hard to find, and healthcare workers have been pushed to the brink. We want the people in our organizations to be engaged, but it’s hard to be engaged while exhausted. Clearly there’s no quick fix for this problem; it’s systemic. It may be normal, but let’s not pretend it’s okay. Let’s start to think about how we might start to make it better.
| Do you have a wellness program? How can you support employees’ physical and mental health? Can you encourage your teams to rest and disconnect? INCITE can help you make it happen. Contact us for a conversation! |
