Employees Found Sleeping During Shift Time In Night Shift

Hi,

We are facing problems in the night shift as our night shift employees have been found sleeping during office hours. This issue will impact our day-to-day operations.

Please provide me with some solutions to resolve this.

Hetal

Hello,

What industry are you serving? Is it manufacturing/production related?

The staff who were found sleeping on duty, what kind of roles do they play?

Are only operational staff working in the night shift or do we have a supervisor?

In the initial days when one of my family members started a production unit that needed to be operational in both shifts, the owner used to go for a surprise visit at any time during the shift to check what the workers were doing. However, this was in the initial period when the operations were just setting up. This is one way. Alternatively, you can monitor the working by installing a CCTV camera that will video record the performance and also serve as proof of non-performance if any.

Just a reminder that it is challenging to stay awake and be fully productive during the night shift. Consider incorporating some engaging activities such as:

1. Playing music or the radio for 30-45 minutes during the mid-shift.
2. Organizing small snack parties for all employees with birthdays in the current or upcoming months.
3. Ensuring well-lit interiors to prevent dozing off.
4. Providing 2 to 3 rounds of tea/coffee to keep them active.

Engage with your staff and ask them what would make them more productive at work. Sometimes, the best ideas come from the employees themselves.

Whether it's the day shift or night shift, employee engagement is crucial for productivity. If your staff is engaged with the organization, motivated to excel, they will perform well regardless of the time; otherwise, the night shift becomes just an excuse.

Hope this helps.

Hi Ankita,

Thank you so much for your quick reply. We are into KPO, and most of the staff are middle-level or higher level, and they work on the live website serving customers' queries. We have done surprise visits, installed CCTV cameras, have a tea/coffee vending machine in the office pantry, and allowed them to play music. Despite this, we still face these issues. Additionally, we celebrate birthdays once a month with a small get-together. In short, we have given them lots of leverage.

While talking to the Night Manager, they act more like executives rather than managers. It is very difficult for us to monitor the CCTV cameras all day. Please help me resolve this issue.

Hetal

Dear Hetal,

What are the shift timings? Are they rotational shifts for employees? If the shifts are longer than 8 hours, it may not be easily solvable. Has the floor manager listened to the employees' working status? Providing coffee or tea may help solve some problems. The first-floor manager needs to monitor the calls in case any issues arise. He should talk to the concerned employees and ask them to avoid such situations in the future, providing proper solutions. Offering soft skills training could be beneficial. Employees must understand their responsibilities. Recognize and reward the best performers with gifts. Spend more time engaging with the employees, especially during their coffee or break times, to identify potential solutions. Organize weekend tours every six months. Consider increasing salaries and granting promotions based on performance. Set achievable targets. Most importantly, it is crucial to urgently train your manager.

Thank you.

KPO and working with clients solving queries...

I would like to ask again if all the employees or most of them are working casually or only a few of them.

If the issue involves all or most employees, we need to conduct a meeting with everyone. Do they have specific targets and incentives linked to performance?

If only a few of them are casual, call each person individually and ask them about the problems they are facing.

The challenge in working with humans is that none of us are perfectly the same. What works for you may not work for me, and vice versa. At the same time, we cannot customize facilities to suit all employees.

Yet, call a meeting with the entire staff. Instead of pointing out names or saying everyone is found sleeping, start by saying:

"I believe that working at night when most of our friends and relatives are fast asleep is very boring. So we are planning to do something that will motivate and excite you to perform your jobs, so it does not become a routine task."

Prepare a short note that does not label them as non-performers but emphasizes your wish to improve their experience.

Ask them what will make them more productive and help them focus better on work.

In such meetings, we get ideas from the employees who will perform the tasks, which will likely fit their requirements better than what we try to figure out.

What is your night shift time? You can plan a surprise family day.

Designate one day as an official family day.

Invite one person from the family of the employees working the night shift. Provide pick-up and drop-off services for them (though this will involve a cost, it will help engage the employees).

Call the family member a week prior to the date and inform them of the surprise visit. Ask if any family member can support you by coming to the office premises on the specified date.

Arrange for a photographer to take pictures of the staff with their family members. Provide a copy to the employee to display on their cubicle walls or work desk.

Having a family member on the office floor, proud of the employee's hard work, will motivate them to perform better. The photograph on the desk will serve as a reminder of that day and how proud their family members are of them.

I believe this solution will partially address the problem.

Hope this helps.

Dear Hetal,

Are you a factory? Do you have standing orders?

If yes, you can take disciplinary actions as per standing orders as "sleeping whilst on duty" will amount to misconduct.

However, first make the following steps:

1) Spread awareness about "discipline," "commitment," "work ethics," etc.

2) Deploy a team of managers who should take surprise night rounds - If anybody is found sleeping, note down his name, call him to the office of his Head the next day, and counsel him.

3) Educate unions (if they exist) about this concern of yours.

4) Issue mass communications (Notice) that:

"It has been observed that some employees sleep during duty hours, especially during night shifts. This is a serious indiscipline which also amounts to loss of productivity, unsafe act, and unsafe condition. Please note that sleeping while on duty is misconduct as per section ( ) of the Standing Orders applicable to you.

You are aware that management has conducted a drive to educate employees about the seriousness of this indiscipline of sleeping while on duty.

Management has decided to view this act seriously, and anybody found sleeping while on duty will be liable for disciplinary action and punishment as per the provisions of standing orders.

We appeal to each employee to act as a responsible employee and contribute towards improving the effectiveness of our organization by instilling discipline.

We also appreciate the affirmative response from the union in this regard, and we are confident that there will be self-imposed discipline in our company, leading to improved organizational effectiveness.

(.............................)

Regards,

Shailesh Parikh

Vadodara, Gujarat

99 98 97 10 65

It will be better if we find out the solution as to why they are sleeping. We have to motivate them about their duties. We have to talk to each individual and sort out the problem. Apart from the manager, we have to appoint a team leader from the same group to bring them closer to the common goal. Appreciate them at each step and provide them with rotational shifts every three days.

Dear Hetal,

After all these valuable comments from our fellow members, I just wanted to share my views.

Despite implementing measures such as installing CCTV, conducting surprise visits, providing vending machines, playing music at the station, organizing birthday celebrations, etc., you are still facing issues with employees sleeping on duty. This could be due to inefficient employee utilization. How do you determine the team size? Have you conducted any analysis based on the volume of business/work? This aspect also plays a crucial role in addressing your concern.

You have not mentioned any targets in your query. If you are not receiving any complaints or escalations from customers, it may indicate that there are too many resources allocated to the team, considering the business volume. I recommend having a meeting with the Manager/Floor Supervisor to discuss employee utilization. Additionally, assess whether the Manager/Floor Supervisor is a suitable hire. If an employee responsible for managing a team is ineffective in their role, they contribute no value to the team/organization. Pink Slip ;)

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Best regards,

[Your Name]

Dear Hetal,

Since you have tried almost everything and received the best of suggestions from our experts, here's my question to you: Have you tried training your employees on their lifestyle?

Assuming that the employees in consideration have been working in the sector for the last few years, they are supposed to find the sleep balance. However, if this has not happened, are they in the life-cycle stage where they are almost living two lives, utilizing all their body strength during the day and falling asleep at night?

Please look deeper into the issues. If these employees have been productive and efficient at work otherwise, a certain degree of training by a health expert might help them improve their lives.

At a firm where I worked, we did see this pattern for a while with a batch of employees. Right from the extra soda in the food at the cafeteria, we accounted for all we could. When we observed it a little more, we found that since their cabs were registered early, they used to work out at the office gym before the office hours. We discussed with a health expert and rescheduled the cabs for an extra hour towards the end of the day. This helped them work out before they reached home, which is why they slept better and got up fresh for the office hours. Certain arrangements such as an hour break mid-way through the workday for the ones who felt more active after working out did work wonders for us.

Dear All,

Thank you so much for your valuable comments. We found out one reason that employees work in the day shift is that they have their own side business, and that's why they get a few hours to sleep during the day. Are employees allowed to work at the same time with us?

Thank you.