A BBC News report investigates the impact of sleep deprivation on work and job performance and details various sleep education programs designed to promote sleep.
One exception is accountancy firm PwC. Three years ago, the blue-chip firm included a section on the importance of sleep as part of a training programme on resilience.
The course, which was done by 4,500 of its UK staff, focused on how to keep physically and mentally well while doing a demanding, fast-paced job.
The level of interest was so high that 18 months ago the firm opened up the course to all its UK staff. As part of this, it brought in a specialist sleep expert to run sessions and put tips on sleeping prominently on its intranet.
It’s still too early to measure the impact of the training, but anecdotal feedback has been positive and the firm is currently assessing additional options to help staff improve their sleep, such as apps and online training courses.
“Apart from doing the right thing, there’s a hard commercial edge to this. Sleep is absolutely crucial to performance,” says Sally Evans, senior manager of diversity and inclusion and employee wellbeing at PwC.
