Ramadan can be a challenging time for Muslim employees since abstaining from food and water for an average of 12 hours tends to have an impact on productivity. There are those who strongly feel that all their efforts during a holy month such as Ramadan should be purely directed towards acts of worship. While they would even go as far as taking time off work to make the most of their spiritual commitments, there are others who struggle to maintain their productivity and put some energy in performing more spiritual activities at the same time.
As far as productivity is concerned, there is definitely a need for fasting preparation in addition to a reprioritization of regular activities in order to accommodate Ramadan. A survey by DinarStandard on Productivity during Ramadan revealed that a sizeable 77% of fasting Muslim employees would like to be as productive as usual during the month. Despite this, non-OIC based employees were less happy with their employers’ flexibility as opposed to OIC-based employees (52% VS 26% respectively).
The reality is that the additional acts of worship while fasting significantly reduces energy. As a gesture of goodwill, management in both OIC and non-OIC environments need to accommodate this reality. Reducing working hours is not necessarily the only ultimate solution. Rather, HR departments ought to consult their staff to assist in finding that healthy balance between organizational and employee needs. It is especially crucial that employees do not face undue pressure outside their regular working hours, which would allow ample time for spiritual activities.
Regardless of whether you are among the 77% who would like to have a productive Ramadan, the challenge lies in the entire 2 billion Muslim population to broaden their understanding of what the month is about. This is where the work being done by ProductiveMuslim.com comes in. The Productive Ramadan Online Course aim is to equip fasting Muslims with tools that will improve their spiritual, physical and mental capacity so that they can achieve their goals in Ramadan. The belief that Ramadan is meant to inspire discipline in not only our spirituality but in our mind, body and soul, means making the right decisions in each aspect of our day-to-day life.
Download the full report here.
