{"id":1732,"date":"2023-06-12T15:17:37","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T15:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stella33.com\/news\/work-design-a-new-project-for-the-health-of-employees-in-the-office\/"},"modified":"2023-10-01T14:13:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T14:13:07","slug":"work-design-a-new-project-for-the-health-of-employees-in-the-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stella33.com\/en\/work-design-a-new-project-for-the-health-of-employees-in-the-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Work Design, a new project for the health of employees in the office"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\u00abWork Design for Health\u00bb: an innovative program developed by researchers from Harvard Chan School and MIT Sloan School of Management offers employers an effective alternative to employee welfare programs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The new study \u00abWork Design for Health – Redesign of Work for the 21st Century: Promising Strategies for Improving the Welfare of Workers<\/a><\/strong>\u00bb – developed by researchers at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health<\/strong> and the MIT Sloan School of Management<\/strong> – provides new guidance on how to create work environments that promote workers’ health<\/a> and well-being<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The framework offers new and viable directions to improve employee health and well-being, improving employee<\/strong> engagement and productivity. It explains why employers should shift their focus from offering welfare programs, which aim to change individual behavior, to creating working conditions that lighten burdens and support the health and well-being of employees<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

The new project \u00abWork Design for Health<\/strong>\u00bb is outlined in an article<\/a> published in the American Journal of Public Health on 9 September 2021. In addition, the team created a toolkit and website<\/a> to guide employers and help them understand if and how their workplace<\/strong> could benefit from the Work Design for Health<\/strong> approach. On the other hand, how important it is that the office becomes \u00aba forge of serendipity, rather than monotony\u00bb, we had already spoken in our articl<\/a>e \u00abDestination office, the office becomes a landing place<\/strong>\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n

\u00abMany employers are looking for ways to support their employees<\/strong>‘ health, particularly after a year of intense stress<\/a>\u00bb, said Erin L. Kelly<\/a><\/strong>, Sloan Distinguished Professor of Work and Organization Studies at MIT Sloan and co-author of the document. \u00abWe hope that the structure of work design will inspire more organizations to consider the various ways in which work affects the well-being of employees<\/strong>\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n

Lisa Berkman<\/a><\/strong>, Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School, explained: \u00abthe innovative Work Design for Health<\/strong> project provides companies with best practices, which will help improve the health and well-being of employees<\/strong>, thereby also maintaining their productivity. The associated website provides concrete and tested examples from the search for practical changes that can improve the condition of workers\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n

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Photo by Elisa Ventur from Unsplash<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n

WORK DESIGN FOR HEALTH, THE PROJECT<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

In recent years, discussions on improving employee<\/strong> health have focused on health promotion or wellness programs focusing on attitudes such as increasing exercise or eating healthy foods. Other recent research<\/a> indicates that these programs do not change much and fail to have a serious impact on employee<\/strong> happiness. \u00abThe health crisis of COVID-19\u00bb, we read in fact on the study<\/a>, \u00abhas clearly highlighted some of the limits of current approaches, revealing structural conditions that increase the vulnerability of workers and their families to physical and psychosocial stress factors\u00bb. This requires a new perspective on working conditions and the workplace environment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

The team stresses that these social conditions are the main determinants of poor health: changing them leads in the first place to the prevention of disease and disability.<\/p>\n\n

\u00abTo fill these gaps\u00bb, the research continues<\/a>, ‘We rely on existing structures and research into the redesign of work in order to propose an up-to-date work reorganisation model, with strategies to reshape the conditions that employees<\/strong> live in the workplace<\/strong>, the main cause of stress-related health problems. Such strategies include increasing the control of working hours and the voice of workers, moderation of job demands, and provision of employer training and support to improve social relations at work\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n

The team proposes a reorganization model appropriate to the 21st century. This project identifies three strategies to reshape working conditions, which not only improve the well-being of employees<\/strong>, but can also benefit the organization:<\/p>\n\n