Case Sleeping on the Job Copyright O 2015 Pearson Education Ltd Although the rec

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Case Sleeping on the Job Copyright O 2015 Pearson Education Ltd Although the recession has been receding for several years now, many U.S. workers still feel pushed to the limit as they work long hours One consequence is that sleep has taken a back seat to other matters deemed more important. But rather than tread through the workday in a zombie-like, sleep-deprived state, some workers are turning to secret "power naps" in order to recharge. For example, Ronit Rogosziniski, a 45-year- old financial planner, wakes up at 5 a.m. each day, works, and at noon sneaks to her car for a quick snooze. She is not alone, as evidenced by the comments on Wall Street Oasis, a website frequently visited by investment bankers who blog about their travails. Their advice? When power-napping on a toilet, put the seat down and keep your pants up, "for maximum comfort Though the thought of an investment banker napping on a toilet in a power suit might be amusing. many believe lack of sleep is no laughing matter. Research examining the effects of sleep deprivation has found that tired workers experience higher levels of back pain, depression, and job dissatisfaction, along with lower levels of performance. Losing even an hour of sleep as a result of the shift to daylight savings time is enough to prompt higher levels of cyberloafing. Some companies are paying attention to the costs associated with sleep deprivation and are encouraging napping at work. One survey of 600 companies conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management revealed that 6 percent had dedicated nap rooms in 2011. In addition, a poll of 1,508 workers conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that 34 percent said they were allowed to nap at work. www.management forune.con.comk D. T. Wagner, C M. Bames V.K G Lim and D. L Femis Let Sloep and Cyberloafing Evidence Questions 1- If organizations introduced "nap rooms" or nap times, how would this factor into job satisfaction? Relate this to extrinsic factors of job satisfaction and the motivation-hygiene theory How might reinforcement theory play a role in the extent to which employees are sleep- deprived? If you were a manager who noticed your employees were sleep-deprived, what steps might you take to help them? What theories of motivation could you use to help them? 2- 3-

Explanation / Answer

1. Sleep deprivation is one of the major causes for stress. Employees in stress are underperforming and distressed. Companies are coming up with innovative ideas to tackle stress at workplace. Introduction of nap zones and naptime is one such creative idea to combat stress and make an employees life easy at the workplace.

Introduction of nap room and nap times improves productivity of employees as well. A power nap of 30 mins increases productivity by 25%. Also lack of sleep causes various diseases in the employees, thus hampering their work and in turn, the business of the company.

As per Herzberg’s two-factor theory, provision for nap rooms and naptime satisfies the extrinsic hygiene factor of job satisfaction. Inclusion of naptime improves the working condition of the employees, which is an extrinsic factor. Absence of extrinsic factors often causes dissatisfaction of employees. So, by providing naptime, job satisfaction rate of employee is also getting increased.

2. Reinforcement theory of motivation is based on the principle of Law of effect. This theory emphasizes on the impact that follows an individual’s actions. People tend to repeat those actions that have positive consequence and tend to avoid the actions with negative consequences. This theory lays emphasis on the fact that the company’s environment and work conditions have direct relationship with employee’s motivation level. If the external environment of the company as well as the work conditions are favorable, then same gets positively reflected in the performance of the company as their level of motivation goes up.

If the employees are sleep-deprived, their level of motivation goes down and they behave negatively. Their performance gets hampered and they do not give their 100% at work. Hence sleep deprivation causes negative reinforcement of motivation in the employees.

3. It is the duty of the HR manager to give conducive work environment to the employees, which positively impacts their performance. If the employees in my company are sleep deprived, I may take the following steps:

Sleep deprivation affects the safety needs of the employees as well. As per Maslow’s need hierarchy, safety needs of an employee addresses issues related to safety from harm, accidents, personal security as well as job security. Lack of sleep causes health harm among the employees and reduces their performance to a considerable extent. The safety needs of the employee must be addressed to keep them motivated and enhance their performance.

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