Knoll Research Insights on Well-Being and Holistic Ergonomics Highlighted in MMQB

February 26, 2015

Knoll Research insights on well-being and holistic ergonomics are highlighted in the February 23, 2015 issue of MMQB. Through an interview with Kylie Roth, Knoll director of workplace research and strategy, Rob Kirkbride of MMQB presents the Knoll approach to wellness and well-being in the office.

Kirkbride references recent findings published in What's Good for People? Moving From Wellness to Well-Being, which notes that only recently have organizations started to consider the physical, mental, and social aspects of work -- what Knoll defines as "holistic ergonomics."

Holistic ergonomics goes beyond wellness in the workplace and even beyond cognitive ergonomics (which considers mental workload, the man/machine interface and decision processes to the focus.)

"A lot of people talk about physical wellness, which is important," Roth notes, but as technology assumed a larger role in business, the study of holistic ergonomics -- an idea presented by Knoll in the 2011 Knoll Research whitepaper, Holistic Ergonomics for the Evolving Nature of Work -- tells a more complete story.

"If we focus on only one part of work, the part that pertains to individual discomfort and posture during interactions with a computer, we miss opportunities to enhance well-being and performance," the Holistic Ergonomics paper highlights.

"A meta-analysis of more than 250 research studies, covering nearly 200 organizations in virtually 50 industries across the globe, showed that employees with the highest levels of engagements are absent 37 percent fewer days that those with the lowest levels," Kirkbride references.

The combined impact of these and other key performance indicators ultimately results in happier customers and a stronger bottom line.  The piece notes that in order for companies to determine their own well-being, they need to understand their own company culture, which differs from company to company and even department to department.

It is important to provide workers with customization and personalization to create movement and fluidity through the environment and equally important to offer the freedom for workers to choose where they want to work, how and if they want to socialize.

Roth clarifies that Knoll "thinks of furniture as building blocks of the work environment that supports people. And that includes a variety of different layers."  A well-designed workplace that focuses on well-being can also help organizations attract and retain talent.

"There is a war for talent and statistics show that the workplace really does matter. It's ultimately about they people that have a choice in who they work for," Roth concludes.