Case Study 1: Motivation
The Sleepiness Epidemic
Ronit Rogosziniski, a financial planner, loses sleep because of her 5 a.m. wake-up call, so she sneaks to her car for a quick lunchtime snooze each day. She is not alone, as evidenced by the comments on Wall Street Oasis, a website frequented by investment bankers who blog about their travails. Should the legions of secret nappers be blessed or cursed by their organizations for this behavior? Research suggests they should be encouraged.
Sleep is a problem, or rather, lack of quality zzz’s is a costly organizational problem we can no longer overlook. Sleepiness, a technical term in this case that denotes a true physiological pressure for sleep, lowers performance and increases accidents, injuries, and unethical behavior. One survey found that 29 percent of respondents slept on the job, 12 percent were late to work, 4 percent left work early, and 2 percent did not go to work due to sleepiness. While sleepiness affects 33 percent of the U.S. population, the clinical extreme, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), is fully debilitating to an additional 11 percent.
In a vicious cycle where the effects of sleepiness affect the organization, which leads to longer work hours and thus more sleepiness, the reason for the sleepiness epidemic seems to be the modern workplace. Full-time employees have been getting less sleep over the past 30 years as a direct result of longer work days, putting them more at risk for sleep disorders. Sleepiness directly decreases attention span, memory, information processing, affect, and emotion regulation capabilities. Research on sleep deprivation has found that tired workers experience higher levels of back pain, heart disease, depression, work withdrawal, and job dissatisfaction. All these outcomes have significant implications for organizational effectiveness and costs.
Sleepiness may account for $14 billion of medical expenses, up to $69 billion for auto accidents, and up to $24 billion in workplace accidents in the United States annually.
Although being around bright light and loud sounds, standing, eating, and practicing good posture can reduce sleepiness temporarily, there is only one lasting cure: more hours of good-quality sleep. Some companies are encouraging napping at work as a solution to the problem, and one survey of 600 companies revealed that 6 percent had dedicated nap rooms. In addition, in a poll of 1,508 workers conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, 34 percent said they were allowed to nap at work. These policies may be a good start, but they are only Band-Aid approaches since more and better sleep is what’s needed. Researchers suggest that organizations should consider flexible working hours and greater autonomy to allow employees to maximize their productive waking hours. Given the high costs of sleepiness, it’s time for them to take the problem much more seriously.
Sources: C. Delo, “Why Companies Are Cozying up to Napping at Work,” CNN, August 18, 2011, www .management.fortune.cnn.com; H. M. Mullins, J. M. Cortina, C. L. Drake, and R. S. Dalal, “Sleepiness at Work: A Review and Framework of How the Physiology of Sleepiness Impacts the Workplace,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 6 (2014): 1096–112; and D. Wescott, “Do Not Disturb,”Bloomberg Businessweek, April 23–29, 2012, 90.
Questions:
1. Should organizations be concerned about the sleepiness of their employees? What factors influencing sleep might be more or less under the control of an organization?
(5 marks)
The organization should be concerned more about the sleepiness of their employees because this is the serious matter. The studies show that the sleepiness among employees in an organization can give a negative impact for their performance and working. It also can increase stress which could putting them more at risk for sleep disorders.
The factor influencing sleep under the control of the organization is the organization have to reducing the long working hour. This factor should be considered because starting and finish time of work can be control by an organization. If employees starting work from 8 am to 4 pm, they only need to work for 8 hours a day and they will be able to get enough rest. This is because organizations need to consider that there are employees who must manage their families first before going to work. So, they can get themselves ready and commute to work without facing any stress from home. After that, the organizations can encourage employees by required them to be out of the office by a certain time. So, they will be positively motivated to work hardly and it’s motive them on working.
2. How might sleep deprivation demonstrate aspects of expectancy theory? How might the incorporation of “nap rooms” for sleep-deprived employees demonstrate aspects of equity theory?
(5 marks)
3. Sleep deprivation can be extremely hazardous to health. What are the key health issues and how should an organization seek to manage the problems that arise from sleep deprivation?
(5 marks)
The core factor that you are referring to is anxiety since its due to extreme anxiety that sleeplessness as you are referring to occurs.
With all due respect to your interest/perspective and curiosity; now regarding the aspect of demonstration of sleep deprivation to expectancy theory does not really justify; where is the link here please?
Let me briefly explain, many of us have expectations while some have realize the divine virtue of acceptance and focused attitude of diligently striving to do what’s essential/relevant to attain their respective objectives.
Lets come straight to the expectancy factor; so those – meaning most of them, who have expectations do tend to sleep and are not fraught with any deprivation necessarily; since during the day when they are awake, they ponder and keep contemplating and ruminating as well as intermittently reflecting upon the factors that remain to be resolved and keep either doing something constructive towards contributing more meaningfulness and purposefulness towards whatever it is that they are doing.
However at the completion of the respective day’s agendas, naturally even with that overbearing mind”full”ness, they still tend to take adequate rest; yes, it might be possible that some who are over anxious might still drift into sleep pondering continually upon the consternating factors, but then even if they awaken with that similar trail of thoughts, they still realize that they did get through with some much needed sleep after all and in fact, feel far much more better with the adequate sleep and are able to feel quite refreshed and energized as well as amazingly suffused with a better set of expectations than they were or could have been if they ever forcibly kept awake all along late and stretch across to the early morning hours.
So where you are referring to expectancy theory, frankly speaking there really is no established theory as such that you are referring to that i am aware of, however if you are well aware, gratefully appreciate if you could precisely define and expound more well in detail to enhance the scope of better awareness for one and all since we are all engaging in healthy sets of discussions, where we could be able to meaningfully contribute towards one another’s greater self development including our motivational/inspirational and authentically, genuinely, legitimately and realistic approach towards each and every aspect/moment of our lives through the auspices of our pure awareness/pure mindfulness; here do kindly remember, its not the mindfu’ll”ness, its pure mindfulness since just going on accumulating any and every sets of informational data without actually doing something constructive would lead to a colossal intensification of more and more muddled sets of thoughts and confusion in considering, thinking, feeling as well as interacting, everything would become far much more reactionary rather than leading and living a pro active life at any given time.
Its not about the point of moving away from the question, but its all integrally interconnected, since moving on to the question of nap rooms is understandable but equity theory? What is the equity theory that you are intending to refer to please? Could you be so kind enough to also further acquaint to help better understand precisely what’s actually being referenced after all; Regarding nap rooms, indeed, that is certainly a good suggestion that is already being followed by many companies since many years, whereby employees can take a ten minute nap and feel quite refreshed/energized and experience a renewed state of being, since those ten minutes are pure restfulness, without any distraction, browsing, chit chatting or even chatting or diverting one’s attention; its just total relaxation for those complete ten minutes that have and continue to be quite