Nonprofit HR’s Blog

The idea of allowing employees an opportunity to nap at the office is not  new idea, but it may be gaining momentum as a more acceptable benefit.

Michael L. Diamond has some of the latest details on snoozing on the clock.

“To help its 20 employees in the office fight through a wave of afternoon fatigue, Nationwide Planning Associates Inc. remodeled an unused closet with a recliner, a fountain and a bamboo rug. Nap time these days isn’t just for preschoolers.

Employees of the Paramus, N.J., investment firm sign up for 20-minute blocks of restorative time twice a week and emerge energized, as if hitting the restart button.

‘I don’t even drink coffee anymore because (after a nap) you don’t need to,’ said James Colleary, 27, a compliance principal who helped convince management that a nap room would be worth the investment. ‘If you take only 20 minutes, you actually feel alert (when you wake up). You feel refreshed.'”

According to the best information I could find, a 2010 survey by the Society of Human Resource Management, just 5% of employers had a nap room on site.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t need a nap room to get some sleep. Thoughts? How hard would it be for you to sell to your leadership a plan to allow staff to nod-off for 15 minutes a day while at their desks?