People have become more conscious of their well-being during the pandemic and are now looking to see if the organizations they work for align with their personal health needs.

As a result of this inward reflection, there is a shift across many industries, with people wanting more from old-school employers.

In their article, The Great Resignation: A Global Risk?, Noakes and Landmann refer to this epiphany as the great realignment. Employees are trying to find more purpose in their work and desire the culture of their organizations to support their physical, intellectual, and social needs.

This great realignment, where employees are switching companies or even roles within the same company, is an opportunity for employers to better understand their organization to ensure that the culture and vision “fits” with these new employee expectations.

Fit is an important consideration as it relates to employee well-being, work satisfaction, and ultimately job and organizational performance. To enhance how workplaces can fit employees, a great opportunity is to look at ergonomics and human factors approaches to the workplace.

The International Ergonomics Association defines ergonomics as the “scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data, and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.” This ergonomics/human factors approach strives to create that fit between the work environment and the employee to improve their overall health, well-being, and ultimately their ability to thrive within a workplace.

While organizations may think of ergonomics as adjustable chairs and standing workstations, it goes much further to focus on employees as assets, technology as tools to assist people to perform their best, respecting individual differences within the workplace, and responsibilities for all stakeholders to improve quality of life.

Hundreds of scientific studies have found that organizations, which embrace ergonomics and human factors, positively impact employee job satisfaction, performance, and overall health. By focusing on opportunities to improve job satisfaction and reducing the opportunities for injury there can be improved organizational retention and improved organizational culture.
Three areas that ergonomics and human factors can help to build workplace engagement and culture are: workplace design, support for hybrid workers, and opportunities for growth.

Workplace Design

A new employee can judge a workplace culture within seconds of seeing the workplace design. By taking an ergonomic and human factors approach and working with employees, there are opportunities to design work spaces geared towards different styles of work.
This includes designing open collaborative spaces with seating that encourages discussion, private environments that are either closed offices or areas with acoustic privacy, and hoteling spaces for those employees who work occasionally in the office and just need a space to sit with their laptop as well as spaces that support virtual technology to allow seamless interfaces with those employees who work remotely. Supporting the physical design should be a lighting scheme to reduce glare. Computer usage and reading can be opportunities to artistically create an attractive work environment.

Hybrid and Remote Workers

The pandemic has proven that work can happen anywhere and an ergonomic and human factors approach can support policies and programs for those working remotely. For hybrid or remote workers, it is important to focus on comfort, productivity, and health to allow them to perform their best regardless of work location. This can include developing policies for equipment provided to remote workers and overall safety requirements of the home office, along with supports for reducing risk factors for both physical and psychological injury. Research is beginning to recognize that individuals can struggle from disconnecting from work, while working remotely.

Opportunities for Growth

A foundation of ergonomics and human factors is to continually look at how the work environment and tools can fit the worker for improved performance. Through this approach and by listening and supporting employees, there is opportunity to create new learnings to improve workplace culture and ultimately employee retention. It is about creating a work environment, regardless of physical location, where people want to work to perform their best.

Employees who are engaged and satisfied with their jobs have higher levels of productivity, improved quality of work and performance. Overall, this creates an enhanced workplace culture. An ergonomic and human factors approach can be a foundation to create satisfaction in a healthy workplace.

Aaron Miller is an ergonomics consultant based in Kelowna, B.C. As a Canadian Certified Professional Ergonomist (CCPE), and president of the Canadian College for the Certification of Professional Ergonomists, Aaron specializes in leading design and corporate initiatives to improve organizational efficiency, effectiveness, and opportunities for change. Aaron can reached at aaronmiller764@gmail.com