Integrating Shift Workers Into the Overall Business Environment
Happy employees are productive. Happy shift workers gain more satisfaction out of their shifts, have better levels of fitness and more restful sleep, and cost their company less in absences and health care costs. An efficient way to raise shift workers’ confidence level and performance is to emphasize their connection with the overall company, a tie that often goes over looked throughout the night shift hours. Since managers and more experienced workers most often work the day shift, though tiredness at night might require more care for the night shift to do the job safely and well. The absence of feedback and encouragement for people working nights and the potential of fewer training hours for shift workers does not take into account unique difficulties shift workers face. Making sure extended hours workers don’t get ignored ensures higher morale and productivity throughout the whole 24 hours.
If you go to Google and search under “integrating a global workforce”, you get over 2 million results. If you search under “integrating shift workers”, you get over 17 million results! I guess this is confirmation that it is more challenging to integrate shift workers than global workers (unless you are integrating global shift workers, which many companies are, of course)!
Integrating shift workers into the overall business environment is critical for the performance of the entire operation. Shift workers regularly complain that they do not truly feel part of the business. This often leads to distrust of management, less than positive workplace relationships, feeling of competition with others outside of the employees’ shift, less creativity and lack of ownership of the work, decreased morale and lower productivity.
The Human Performance Institute surveyed 75,000 working adults over a 3 year period. The study involved gauging personal energy management and work-life balance. This was not a shift work-only study but the results are materially relevant to shift work operations nevertheless. The study found that an employee’s satisfaction at work depends on the positive mental, spiritual, physical and emotional resources of the employee.
The top 10% of most satisfied employees per the survey have an average exercise and fitness score that is 70% higher than those in the bottom 10% of job satisfaction. The top 10%’s nighttime sleep score is 54% higher than the scores of those in the bottom 10%. Their overall rest and recovery score, which includes daytime breaks and constructive diversions from work, is 49% higher than those with the lowest job satisfaction rates. And, their nutrition is 26% higher than the lowest group.
These numbers are especially important to shift workers since shift workers themselves report they exercise and sleep less than the average employee and they admit to eating less nutritiously as well. i
The Human Performance Institute describes five ways employers can create a satisfying work environment:
1. Build employees’ competence and self-confidence through training, feedback and recognition
2. Communicate the value of the organization’s products and services, and the role the organization plays in the marketplaces where it operates.
3. Encourage and reward thoughtful risk-taking.
4. Encourage positive workplace relations.
5. Encourage meaningful rest breaks and light diversion.
There are many steps that employers can take to make sure the environment the company’s shift workers work in is satisfying. To start, the company can look at what it offers for training. Usually the training programs offered to shift workers are the same as the ones offered to day-time workers. While this is fair, modifications to the time training is offered or modes of training (using computer training vs. day-time stand up training, for example) may make the training more appealing for the shift worker. Also, the company can make sure that any training programs delivered using a stand up approach pull together employees from all different shifts so relationships are advanced between the employees working different shifts.
The company can look at how it provides performance feedback and how it uses recognition programs to reward employees. Again, these are probably the same for shift workers and day-time workers. However, day-time workers may get more performance feedback from management than shift workers as management tends to not work outside the hours of 7am to 7pm. And, recognition programs may offer rewards that the shift worker is challenged to redeem such as reward meetings during the day (e.g. breakfast with the President or other executive manager). Creative thinking about how management can show shift workers the value of their work will reap significant results! How about 3 months of free health club membership or an extra weekend off with the family!
At many companies the shift workers are not brought into the internal dialog about the importance and prominence of the company’s products and how to make them better. This is something that company leaders discuss and since most of them are working during the day and are not directly involved with the employees working shift work, this important dialog is often missing for the shift worker. This creates some distance between the worker and the company and the company leaders.
Again, creative thinking about how executive management can create this dialog can be a bonus for the company and the workers. How about periodic interactive web conferencing between company leaders and representative shift workers across all shifts? Or worker surveys about company products and videos by leaders addressing what they intend to do about the results of the surveys?
Positive risk-taking is about empowering people to work collaboratively to access opportunities. It requires trusting working relationships, people who understand the consequences of different courses of action and can make decisions based on a range of choices, supported by adequate and accurate information. Shift workers and shift work teams can be tasked by senior management to come up with creative solutions for the business. This might include developing ideas of ways to grow the business such as new products,improve earnings through revenue growth or cost reductions, enhance training programs, improving worker safety…..there are many, many opportunities shift workers can add value to when they are asked for ideas.
Employees want to work in an environment where they feel respected, fairly treated and know that their needs are being met. This goes for relationships between employees and supervisors and senior management as well as between employees themselves. Employers can foster a more positive work environment by encouraging open, constructive communication. At the core, good communication requires good listening skills such as listening carefully to employees concerns about the work environment or listening and investigating before disciplining. This also includes employees listening to management’s concerns about safety or productivity, for example. Both management and employees have to work together to continuously improve the work environment.
The fact that the survey by the Human Performance Institute was not directed to shift workers but still came up with a recommendation encouraging meaningful rest breaks and light diversion as a means of creating a satisfying work environment is interesting. This recommendation is obviously even more important in a shift work environment. Studies show that napping at the workplace is especially effective for workers who need to maintain a high degree of alertness, attention to detail, or make quick decisions. Other positive diversions may include humorous shift worker oriented posters in the break room leading to employee discussion, places to relax for a few minutes; outside if weather permits or a workout room so employees can exercise during breaks.
The Wellness Council of America (WELCOA)ii offers a free job satisfaction survey that can be modified to suit most environments (http://www.welcoa.org/freeresources/pdf/job_satisfaction_survey.pdf). Using this survey or something similar and executing it on a confidential basis is a great way to begin to understand the satisfaction rates of your employees. Adding a few questions about whether workers believe that shift workers are adequately integrated into the overall company environment would be very helpful to gauge your own company’s level of shift work integration.
Working Nights Calendar
June, 2008
©2008workingnights
This material is provided for personal, non-commercial, educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement.
i Circadian Technologies, Inc. Health in Extended Hours Operations; Understanding the Challenges, Implementing the Solutions, 2003
ii WELCOA was established as a national not-for-profit organization in the mid 1980’s through the efforts of a number
of forward thinking business and health leaders. With a membership in excess of 3,200 organizations, WELCOA is
dedicated to improving the health and well-being of all working Americans.
©2008workingnights
This material is provided for personal, non-commercial, educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement
Tags: 24/7, fitness, Human Capital, napping, Productivity, training, Working Nights
