How Sleep Deprivation Can Impact the Job Performance of Working Mothers

The role of working women has changed over the years. Currently, working women have immense pressure to develop their professional lives, all while sustaining their personal lives. This pressure takes a toll and often leads to sleep deprivation, which has been shown to impact job performance. That said, the current research investigated the effect of sleep deprivation on the job performance of mothers working in educational institutions. Additionally, the authors investigated the role of workplace deviance, commonly defined as planned, malicious attempts to sabotage an organization.

PERFORMANCE, SLEEP DEPRIVATION, AND DEVIANT BEHAVIOR

Researchers (Deng et al., 2022) administered a survey to women in Pakistan who were married, had given birth to one child, and worked in an educational institution (e.g., schools, colleges, universities) for at least 6 months. The survey included questions about the number of hours they slept daily, the number of deviant behaviors they engaged in at work (e.g., lack of effort, leaving work for others to finish), as well as employee performance.

The results of this study indicated that sleep deprivation was associated with an increase in deviant workplace behavior and a decrease in job performance. Going one step further, the authors conclude that the increase in deviant behavior helps explain why sleep deprivation was associated with a drop in job performance.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS

Based on these findings, the authors recommend that organizations implement rules about limited working hours, such as not allowing more than 8 to 10 working hours successively. Further, the authors suggest offering new mothers sufficient paid maternity leave or on-site daycare facilities. This may help mothers avoid sleep deprivation, while also improving employee dedication, morale, and productivity.

 

Deng, Y., Cherian, J., Kumari, K., Samad, S., Abbas, J., Sial, M. S., Popp, J., & Oláh, J. (2022). Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Job Performance of Working Mothers: Mediating Effect of Workplace Deviance. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health19(7), 1-17.

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