Earlier in my career I reported to the owner of a small privately held firm who was laser-focused on significantly growing the business.  With a foot seemingly always on the gas pedal, their work ethic was well-known and well-discussed throughout the organization.  While the company did impressively scale, direct reports to this individual often confided in being exhausted from the pace and the disruption to sleep.  It was common to receive emails in the middle of the night.  Non-urgent calls would be received on weekends and even holidays.  This business-comes-first culture conditioned direct reports to climb out of bed at the sound of the “email received” alert from our phones and respond.  While most messages never stated that an immediate response was required, they also didn’t say that a response could wait until the next day.  The lack of that clarity left us unsure of the expectation, and no one wanted to be labeled as the slacker who didn’t respond.    

While this example may seem extreme, it underscores the point that a leader’s influence does not always end when the clock reaches 5:00 p.m.  There has been much publicity about the limited amount of sleep well-known entrepreneurs claim to reserve for themselves.  Certainly, the attention necessary for owners and executives to successfully grow and run their organizations does often require Herculean efforts.  Issues arise, however, when those senior leaders fail to recognize the often-unspoken expectations set by their example and the related impacts on staff throughout the organization.    

In a recent Vanity Fair interview Melinda French Gates, ex-wife of Bill Gates and an insider to the executive suite scoffs at the idea that limiting sleep improves productivity. French Gates formed a dim view of those who bragged about operating on little sleep, saying, “Some of us didn't want to be around them! Let's be honest!"  Some public business figures previously in this camp, such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates himself, report now changing their approach to sleep, admitting that less sleep makes them less effective.  Yet others continue to proclaim their minimal dedication to rest as a badge of honor, one that is often idolized and emulated by more junior employees.  

CDC Guidelines hold that the average person in the 18 to 60 year old range requires at least 7 hours of sleep per night, yet only 60% of those in that age group report getting that amount.  Maintaining less may lead to a host of health concerns, including weight gain, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.  Motor vehicle crashes increase when proper rest diminishes, and attention and memory can suffer.    

After-hours emailing is just one activity that can disrupt employee rest.  Unreasonable or unnecessary deadlines, assignments given at the very end of the day but due the next, and ignoring time zone differences can all lead to after shift work and the inability to disconnect for rest.   HR leaders are wise to reinforce with organizational management the positive impact employee rest and rejuvenation has on productivity, employee satisfaction, and retention.  Some key concepts and techniques include:

• Avoiding sending emails long after or before business hours.   If necessary to do so, schedule emails to be held for delivery until first thing the next morning.   Most email programs have this function.  
• Modeling expected—and accepted--behavior.  Leaders should take care of themselves in order to be most effective and encourage team members to do the same.  It is important to verbalize the value of rest on productivity and quality of work, and ensure workers feel confident that disconnecting will be praised, not punished.  
• Specifying reasonable response times.  Urgent calls to action obviously come up, but requests to work beyond regular hours should be reserved for when it is truly necessary.  
• Accounting for time zone differences.  In a global environment, it can be a challenge to sync calendars during times when all are officially on the clock, but this should be done whenever possible.  When not, leaders should at least acknowledge and verbalize appreciation for those who must join meetings outside of their normal day.  

Sources:  Vanity Fair, CDC.gov