The company has announced 2:00-2:30pm every day as an official nap time for wakefit's employees, thereby empowering them to take an afternoon nap and build greater sleep affinity.

In an era of work-from-home policies, Wakefit, has claimed to be the first Indian company to announce a ‘right to nap’ policy for its employees between 2 to 2.30 pm during work hours. This is the second interesting announcement by the D2C start-up. Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Director and Co-Founder, Wakefit.co has candidly explained a BW People journalist

1. What according to you will be the impact laid by initiating a 30-minute nap policy?

Over the past two years, we adapted to the new world order of work, as we see it today. This entailed a transition to a hybrid work format, which is where we became cognizant of the dire need to create a conducive culture for our workforce. The tenets that we laid for this were to focus on and empower the holistic wellbeing of our employees and build their sleep affinity, considering that we are in the business of sleep. Research shows that afternoon naps help in boosting memory, concentration and creativity. That is when we conceptualised our Right to Nap Policy. We led with the belief that our 30-minute nap policy will play a pivotal role in helping our employees recharge and re-center themselves.

Wakefit.co is a people-centric organisation, and we believe that this initiative will make our employees feel valued and empowered. Our Right to Nap policy will contribute towards emphasising the importance of sleep positivity and health, while helping our employees enhance their job productivity and efficiency. We hope that our policy will extend a first-step and motivate other organisations to implement this in practice, and initiate a 30-minute nap policy that focuses on employee wellness at their core.

2. Where did you seek inspiration for having this policy and with what aim have you incorporated the same?

We are a sleep and home solutions company with the ethos of democratising sleep. Our vision is to innovate and create compelling solutions that help our customers shape their ideal homes and spaces, and promote the ease and comfort of living. We announced our Right to Nap policy, enabling our employees to take a nap between 2 to 2:30 pm every day after having examined reports from a NASA study which revealed that a 26-minute nap can enhance performance by 33%, as well as a Harvard study which shows how naps prevent burnout. Our employees have the freedom to decide how they want to utilise their 30-minute break, be it to take a quick nap, meditate, and spend some time to read, or re-center themselves. During this time, all our calendars have been blocked to reflect 2 to 2:30pm as our official nap time.

Our aim is to instil a sense of pride and belonging among our employees and consistently work towards empowering best practices for their wellbeing. We believe that policies of this manner that have an out-of-the-box, creative appeal make employees feel more connected and inspired about their work. Over and above the need to prioritise the wellbeing of our workforce, we incorporated this policy with the hope that it will spark conversations on the need for sleep wellness and demystify the taboo surrounding sleep.

3. While people require a steady and soft base to lie down, would you also be open to having napping furniture within your office space? What is your thought about the same?

In line with our Right to Nap policy, we have set up dedicated nap rooms at our workplace. We are also working towards creating cosy nap pods and quiet rooms in our office to build the

perfect nap environment for everyone. Taking the rigours and daily rush surrounding work into account, we have been working towards enabling quiet areas for our employees to relax and utilize their right to nap at work.

4. "We are also working towards creating cosy nap pods and quiet rooms in the office to build the perfect nap environment for you." How far have you succeeded in creating cosy pads and quiet rooms within your office space? Also, what has been the feedback from your employee base upon this policy?

We have received an overwhelming response and continue to receive immense positive feedback from our employees on this initiative. From the day we announced this policy, our employees have affirmed the need for an initiative of this manner, and have showcased their appreciation across social media as well. Their response to this policy and its implementation has been truly humbling and we are proud to have created a cohesive work environment that promotes sleep positivity.

5. How do you think such policies will benefit in productivity of the employees? Do such policies also help in retaining talent or is it just a matter of tokenism?

Innovation and employee wellbeing is at the heart of our business. We have consistently endeavoured to do things differently, and that has been the secret sauce of our company culture. Beginning from establishing a sleep lab at our factory to introducing industry-first initiatives such as our Sleep Internship program, to launching our landmark Right to Nap policy, we have always led with a culture that champions creativity and divergent thinking. It is with this approach that we have been able to spark zeal and enthusiasm among our employees, while ensuring that we keep ourselves motivated and inspired.

We believe that policies like this can go a long way in giving employees an environment that is conducive to their holistic growth. Not only do they help in breaking the monotony but they also create immense potential for fresh ideas and creativity to stem. Thus, these policies play a vital role in not just retaining the talent pool, but also encouraging the workforce to whole-heartedly contribute towards the growth and progress of their organisation