Britons pride themselves on how hard we work. We work the longest hours in Europe (Eurostat figures show we average 42.4 hours a week versus the European average of 40.5 hours) and the developed world. Yet we lag the rest of the developed world in most productivity measures. The LSE centre for Economic Performance published findings in June last year showing output per worker in the UK is 13% lower than Germany, 18% lower than the US and 20% lower than France.
A UN report in June 2007 showed that 25.7% of us work longer than 48 hours a week. Despite the recent protections in law that give us the opportunity to opt out of working longer than 48 hours a week in the world of professional services, for which our economy is now so hugely reliant, few people choose to opt-out as we perceive our chances of promotion or level of bonus would be severely compromised when all around us our colleagues are putting in the hours.
The hours we work combined with the amount of sleep we average is having a negative effect on our productivity as a nation.
A 2006 report by Cranfield Management School showed that companies waste up to 520 hours per employee per annum simply by failing to manage their energy levels correctly. To put this in to context this is equivalent to 2 hours every day (or 1/4 of working time for those working a standard 8 hour day).
A report by Circadian Technologies in the US in 2003 showed that white collar job performance can decrease by as much as 25% when workers put in 60 or more hours a week for prolonged periods. Allied to a study in Occupational & Environmental Medicine showing that in those working 12 hours a day the risk of illness increased by 37% it is clear that our output as a nation will suffer if we continue to glorify long-hours at work without any interventions.
When we are losing tens of billions of pounds in absence each year it is time to take these matters seriously. We need to learn to work smarter, not longer!
Marcus de Guingand is the Managing Director of Third Pillar of Health
Third Pillar of Health is a leading Fatigue Management Solutions provider to the public and private sectors. We offer a range of products and services from assessment, training, online learning to interactive workshops all of which are designed to help your people beat fatigue and perform at their best all day every day.
Fatigue is the greatest killer of productivity of modern times and workforce fatigue is endemic in the developed world.
Visit our website ( http://www.thirdpillarofhealth.com ) to understand how we can help you significantly improve productivity, wellbeing and work-life balance. Alternatively if you would like to undertake your own sleep test and sleep training programme visit http://www.sleepknow.com.
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