ErgoANSWERS.com "The Office Productivity Experts!"
April, 2011
Improving Corporate Productivity - The Key To It All
"The single greatest challenge facing managers in the developed countries of the world is to raise the productivity of knowledge and service workers. This challenge, which will dominate the management agenda for the next several decades, will ultimately determine the competitive performance of companies. Even more important, it will determine the very fabric of society and the quality of life in every industrialized nation.”
Peter Drucker - On the Profession of Management - You should read this book.
If you do not know anything about Mr. Drucker, he is one of the best-known and most widely influential thinkers and writers on the subject of management theory and practice. His writings have predicted many of the major developments of the late twentieth century, including privatization and decentralization; the rise of Japan to economic world power; the decisive importance of marketing; and the emergence of the information society with its necessity of lifelong learning. In 1959, Drucker coined the term “knowledge worker" and later in his life considered knowledge work productivity to be the next frontier of management. (Wikipedia)
Why does this matter? There is a big productivity hole in most corporations that they are not aware of. It is a hole that is draining the companies of bottom line dollars. But this hole can be plugged and managed and even turned into a huge asset with a comprehensive Human Performance Engineering (HPE) Program. How do I know? I built one of the most successful HPE programs at a Fortune 200 company that went on to become a top 100 Best Companies to Work for. Be warned that this is not a quick fix. It is a long term program that will take several years to get fully integrated into your company but will positively impact all aspects of your company when fully online.
If you have employees working at computers, you have injured employees. In fact, my experience has shown me that 60% to 80% of all employees working at computers are or have been injured. Don't believe me? Then go out and ask them! That's right. Go talk to them. If you ask the right questions you will be blown away by what you find. Consider this; If I am anywhere near correct in my claim, then you have a huge problem. Think of the lost productivity and productivity!
WHAT TO ASK: Ask them specifically if they have had any hand, wrist arm elbow, shoulder, back or neck pain. But, if you just ask;" Hey Jane, how are you doing? Is everything OK?" You will most likely hear "Everything is great!" You need to be specific. Also, ask if they have ever had to go to the doctor for their pain. You can start with you hardest working employees and learn a lot.
Remember, labor is your largest cost and it is an annual cost. Take your total labor cost and then take the percentage of your employees you think could be injured. Multiply that out. Then say that their labor is impacted by a conservative 5%. What is that amount? We will take some conservative numbers:
EXAMPLE: 10,000 employees X 40% injured = 4,000 employees.
4,000 X an average of $50,000 total compensation = $200,000,000
$200,000,000 X 5% = $10,000,000 annually!
Wow! Now what do you do? Go out and buy ergo stuff to fix it? No! You will likely need to buy some equipment but first you need to fully understand what is going on and the magnitude of the situation. Second you need to build a plan. You must also understand that beginning to correct the injury situation through "micro ergonomics" is only the beginning of and about 1/3 of the solution.
The golden egg is improved productivity. Keep your eye on that.
Next time: The Plan.
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