Ensuring your employees aren’t overly stressed is an important issue for many HR professionals – but how many are neglecting their own wellbeing and suffering as a result?
According to a recent study, over a third of business decision makers lose sleep over work – with the average worrier missing out on 5.27 hours every week or a total of 34 nights every year.
Conducted by Heathrow Express, the survey revealed that weathering the economy is the root cause of most peoples’ insomnia, followed by the ever-rising costs of overheads.
Finding qualified staff took third place, echoing a recent similar study by SilkRoad which focused primarily on senior HR professionals.
“Respondents say they are most concerned about linking the success of new hires to the L&D of the employee and understanding how that process can be measured in performance management,” the study elaborated.
“Sleep affects us on various levels – mentally, emotionally and physically – so when we have had no or insufficient sleep, we feel the consequences,” said Colin Espie, a professor of sleep medicine at the University of Oxford.
“Physically we will feel lethargic and sleepy, mentally we become slowed down with poorer concentration and memory, and emotionally we may become irritable and rather down, with bursts of hyperactivity,” he added.
So what exactly is causing business leaders to lose so much sleep? The top ten reasons are listed below:
- Weathering the economy
- The increasing cost of overheads
- Finding qualified staff
- Standing out in crowded markets
- Innovating
- Raising funds for investment
- Understanding the next generation of consumers
- Entering international markets
- Market regions
- Patenting ideas
Related stories:
Why HR should be worried about workplace fatigue
Five everyday habits that are killing productivity
Preventing fatigue-based workplace disasters
