Out of (Ergo) Sight Should Not Mean Out of Mind

It's fair to say that the tug-of-war between employers and employees to return back to the office is as strong as ever. 

Companies are using all sorts of strategies to lure their employees back to the office with free lunches, events, onsite perks, and in some cases employees' jobs are on the line if they don't come onsite.  Reluctantly on both sides, the Hybrid model is emerging as the winner, with employees coming onsite 2 - 3 days a week at best and for some, it's driven by team needs and can be as little as a few times per month, if the employee even lives near a company office. 

A growing number of companies have embraced a remote-first approach to work, or have ditched their physical offices altogether.

No matter what camp your company falls into, one thing is for sure: You have employees working at home.  And to complicate matters, if they are Hybrid, they wrestle with two work environments.   

The trap we see company after company fall into is assuming that their employees are "just fine" working from home and aren't in the office enough to wind up their ergo programs like in the days when employees were on-site full-time at the office with designated desks for everyone.  And sadly, with employees literally being out of sight their ergo needs are also out of mind.

Numbers Don't Lie

Four years after COVID, when employees have supposedly figured out their home setups and are settled into their work habits, we are seeing the highest reports of severe pain than at any time during our twenty-five+ + years conducting ergo evaluations and training for companies.  It's not a coincidence that these severe pain points are occurring at the lowest amount of ergo activity that we've seen during our tenure as an ergo firm.  

The hotspots and self-reported discomforts are in order of severity:

- Neck

- Shoulders

- Lower Back

- Upper Back

- Wrists

- Glutes / Hips / Legs

- Eyestrain and Headaches.

The culprits tend to be:

- Working at the dining room table (which is too high for most people)

- Working on a laptop on a surface without an external keyboard, mouse, laptop riser, or monitor

- Working on the couch and using the coffee table as a desk

- Lack of adjustability (chair and desk)

- Lack of lumbar support

Keep in mind, that MANY of these issues can be fixed with DIY fixes such as pillows and back cushions for better back support, small boxes for foot support, and small boxes or books to prop up laptops.  Sometimes equipment recommendations are needed.  But, training and education are key to teaching employees how to make the necessary changes to be able to work safely and comfortably anywhere!

So, whether it is through webinars, onsite workshops, ergo evaluations (remote or onsite), or online training, we urge you to up your game as the ones responsible for creating a safe and positive space for your employees to work (wherever that may be) and ramp up ergo awareness throughout your company. 

At a minimum, survey your employees to see how they are doing at home, in the office, and if they are struggling with any discomforts and anything else taking them off their game in their work environments. And go from there.  Knowledge is power. 

The truth is, with employees more "out-of-sight" than ever before, ergo has never been more important to be on your mind and put into practice by everyone.