Want to Improve Productivity? Let Your Employees Sleep in.

A recent study found that people who start work later in the morning get more sleep. As a result, they tend to be more productive, alert, and have fewer safety problems.

SAN RAFAEL, CA-October 7, 2002--Improving your companys productivity and safety could be as simple as letting your employees sleep an hour later every morning.

A recent study has found that people who start work later in the morning get more sleep. As a result, they tend to be more productive, alert and have fewer safety problems.

Consulting firm Shiftwork Solutions conducted the study at a major auto parts manufacturing plant near Louisville, KY. The plant operates on two different schedules that are an hour apart.

Three-quarters of the workers on day shift start work at 6:30 a.m. The rest start an hour later. When surveyed, employees with the later starting time said they got an average of 34 minutes more sleep on the days they worked. On their days off, both groups got about the same amount of sleep.

Dan Capshaw, a partner with Shiftwork Solutions says he wasnt surprised by the results. Most people wont go to bed earlier to adjust for an early work start time. They would rather sacrifice their sleep than their normal evening activities. The later start time for the one group simply allowed them to sleep longer."

Asked how often they had problems with safety or performance, 40% of the group with the later starting time reported they had problems one or more times a week, compared to 58% of the employees on the earlier day shift.

In addition, the later starters" accounted for only 14% of the accidents over a one-year period, despite representing 24% of the total workers.

Jim Dillingham, also a partner at Shiftwork Solutions, says that the study clearly illustrates the potential benefits of a more effective work schedule. The payoff," he says, In terms of improved performance and safety, can be huge."

Dillingham and Capshaws firm, Shiftwork Solutions, specializes in helping organizations with multi-shift operations. The companys web site (www.shift-work.com) contains a number of informative articles about shiftwork issues faced by the managers of 24/7 operations.