Drinking alcohol and smoking do not affect a person's performance at work, research says.
The University of Cambridge, along with Rand Europe, conducted a trial that aimed to scrutinize the factors affecting the people's performance at work. The study involved more than 21,000 employees coming from both firms.
The study revealed that the employees who drank and smoke the night before their work did not experience negative impact on their work performance. This finding surprised the investigators and it prompted discussion among the team members, as per Financial Times.
The top factor for that decreased productivity of the employees was lack of sleep. It is also a culprit to a condition called presenteeism, in which a person may be in a state of being at work, but he is not able to accomplish the task with his best ability.
Though alcohol drinking and smoking did not provide a link to decreased work performance of the trial subjects, Vitality Health Strategy Director Shaun Subel emphasized that heavy alcohol consumption can result to long-term effects on work productivity.
It was also pointed out by the publication that the trial was dependent on subjective data coming from the respondents, which may have demonstrated slight disloyalty on their work performance as well as their status the night before.
Meanwhile, going out and drinking at the middle of the week is not viewed as problematic as long as the people goes to bed by midnight, as per Ask Men.
With alcoholism, smoking, and sleep deprivation as factors that can affect a person's work performance, employees can be educated that drinking in moderation and having adequate hours of sleep will help boost their performance in their workplace.