Man has constantly striven to develop new techniques to allow him to achieve more in life. From the early Greek philosophers, through to creative geniuses such as Beethoven, Da Vinci, Dali and Einstein one recurring technique has been "napping". Great leaders in times of War, such as Napoleon and Winston Churchill, were also known to have napped to help them deal with their stress. Since then it is a technique that has been employed by many US Presidents and UK Prime Ministers; including Margaret Thatcher, John F Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.
Application
Now, "powernapping" has taken corporate America and Japan by storm. Workers are actively encouraged to take breaks in their day and have a nap; they are even sent on courses to learn how to do this!
Apparently you're never too big to take a nap. Today, napping is a health trend, a workplace perk, even an art form. Children do it, students do it, even educated Corporate Chairmen and CEO's do it.
Examples of high-powered corporations that subscribe to the idea…
BRITISH AIRWAYS
Rosekind's real-world research at NASA resulted in at least one airline, British Airways, allowing pilots on transoceanic flights to catch a few winks so they will be more alert when landing. A number of Silicon Valley companies have set up nap rooms, complete with reclining chairs, blankets, alarm clocks, even piped-in classical music, for their employees.
NIKE
At Nike employees have access to "relaxation rooms". Nike also urges its employees to "just do it," although it calls its nap room a "relaxation room."
DELOITTE & TOUCHE
One of Pittsburgh's largest consulting firms, Deloitte & Touche has awakened to a whole new idea in meeting its employee needs. When the 260-employee firm, which specializes in welfare, social services, manufacturing and financial consulting, recently remodeled its space, it made meeting workplace diversity a priority. Deloitte Consulting Pittsburgh location, at workers request, put in a nap room when it renovated its office a year and a half ago.
THE US ARMY
…whose studies have convinced their top brass to allow officers a nod or two while on the job.
GOULD EVANS GOODMAN ASSOCIATES
Kansas City Based Architectural firm Gould Evans Goodman Associates pitched three "spent tents" in a corner of its office-each outfitted with air mattress, sleeping bag, foam pad, flannel pillow, Walkman, eye shades and alarm clock. Employees doze in "spent tents" in a fairly secluded second-floor loft space. Gould Evans installed its 10 by 12 foot nap room. According to the company spokesperson Mindy Highfill, no stigma is attached to those using it. "When it is the middle of the afternoon and I am not getting work done because I am tired, I know I am better off taking a 10 to 15 minute nap," she says. "Then, when I go back to work, I am refreshed and revitalized and able to get a lot more done."
LOWNEY & ASSOCIATES
Lowney & associates, an engineering consultancy in Mountain View, California, touts a "quiet room" where employees can grab a pillow and a blanket and stretch out on the couch. OP Contract, the wholesale office furniture has instituted a napping and rest program.
KLETTKE AND ASSOCIATES
At Klettke and Associates, a Chicago public relations firm, the "nap nook" is more informal. It is a walk-in closet where Chris Lathrop, 31, uses his attache case for pillow. Still, it is the only pause that truly refreshes. "With restaurants packed, lunch breaks can be almost as hectic as working," he said.
RES CARE INC
Other Companies are more overt: lowa-based health care provider Res Care Inc. has a nap room and a sign advising, "Napping in progress."
42IS
42IS a Berkley, California, computer-consulting firm, provides a loft with a blanket and alarm clock. Naps are divided into 20-minute blocks for its employees and even has a reservation book for its nap rooms because of the high demand. "When employees start, we make sure they know the nap room’s available," says Cory Levenberg, president of 42IS, a computer consulting firm in Berkeley, Calif. Levenberg recently told U.S. News & World Report that about 70 percent of his employee use the company nap room at least once every other day. The room contains a blanket and an alarm clock. It’s so popular, there’s now a sign-up sheet for workers to pencil in their nap time.
THE METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY
The Metropolitan transit Authority, which runs the New York Subway system and two suburban railroads, is considering 10-to-20 minute "power naps" for its train operators and bus drivers.
YARDE METALS
"We enjoy a unique culture and a happy go-lucky environment," says Craig Yard, president of the metal manufacture and distributor at Yarde Metals, headquartered in Bristol, Connecticut, "We take away anxiety to create an atmosphere of hardworking, fast driving fun." Yarde, with the help of architects, is building a nap room for its employees, which he also refers to as the "corporate facility leisure room." It’s being designed as a place where people can relax for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. This main room will have a waterfall in the center and be surrounded by four smaller rooms. Leather recliners will be provided. However other branches of the company (located in Philadelphia, Boston and in deer Park, Long Island) that already have nap rooms. Some of these rooms are used as an aerobics studio and a "coffee roasting room." Yarde Metals' nap policy works because the boss encourages it and sees its benefits.
GREAT DANE TRAILERS
Kit Hammond, President of Great Dane Trailers in Savannah, Ga., one of the largest manufactures of trailers and trucks says he'd give his office staff and plant supervisors a chance to try napping at work because he suspects 40 winks will not only make his employees feel better, but might even make them more productive. He turned to one of the gurus of corporate napping to train his workers on the art of power napping, Tom Deluca and 60 of Hammond’s employees signed up for the workshop.
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
At Union Pacific Railroad their napping policy is aimed at the road freight teams. They permit 1 crew member a 45 minute nap. Dennis Holland PH.D., Union Pacific's director of Alertness Management, anticipates napping programs for other segments of the company. "Employees find napping to be an effective management and employee relations benefit-managements willingness to colour outside the box has impressed employees." Holland says. "Our society is sleep-deprived," said Holland, which adopted a pro-napping policy in 1998. "It’s worse than it was in the past, and we have to address it.
THE BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE RAILROAD
A railroad company, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, allows train conductors and engineers to take scheduled naps of up to 45 minutes long when the train is stopped and as long as one crew member is on watch. Burlington Northern-Santa Fe, the second largest railroad in the country, instituted a policy allowing sleep-deprived employees to take short naps. "I think an engineer on a train can operate a lot safer if he's more alert than if he's not quite as alert," says engineer Joe Tucker. "And this nap rule does allow us to take that nap." Tommy Gibson of Burlington Northern-Santa Fe said "We found that production has gone up since we implemented the napping policy and that we do have much more alert employees." Scientific studies back up that observation.
A few companies won praise for encouraging napping at work (Sprint's operation centre in phoenix, Deloitte Consulting in Pittsburgh, Gould Evans Goodman in Kansas City).
Pizza Hut International allows its employees nap time, and executives at companies such as AT&T, Metropolitan Life and McDonald's have at least participated in Power Napping workshops. The chemical company, Nova, which operates facilities 24-hours-a-day, built recovery rooms for its production workers to nap.
|
