The Care and Feeding of the Human Equipment
Gerald Lewis, Ph.D.

 As we have evolved to the workplace that provides service and information (S&I), there still remains a need to maintain the tools of the trade.  Offices, computers, desks, papers and pens, phones, faxes, copier machines, etc are the technical tools that most S&I workplaces require.  However, the primary “equipment” is the employee that delivers the services. Put another way, with service and information, there has been a role reversal.  In a manufacturing workplace, the human was the tool that was aiding the equipment that produced the work.  Now, the equipment is a tool that aids the human who is doing the actual delivery of service. Although this probably needs no further explanation, let’s look at two scenarios; a factory that produces clothe material and an insurance company.  In the former, the large looms and equipment produce the fabric while the personnel manage the machines.  In the insurance company, the computers are the tools that aid the employee who is providing service to the client.  The tools are actually providing an aid to the employee who establishes a relationship with the client.  Ahhh, there is the key word… relationship.  In a manufacturing establishment there is, at best, a limited relationship between the worker and the machinery or between the worker and the client who purchases the fabric.  Most importantly, to have a piece of equipment breakdown or go off line may result in the loss of revenue for a manufacturing organization.  In service provision, there is a relationship that must be maintained, because to lose the relationship may, in fact, result in the loss of the client and loss of business.  Or, to have one of your workers “break down” or “go off line” may result in a similar loss of revenue as well as drain reserves from the other human equipment.

Therefore, one must consider that the maintenance of the S&I equipment, the work staff, should remain a significant consideration for the modern workplace.  Sorry, to say, most workplaces are grinding their human equipment to a frazzle.  The forty-hour workweek has been extended, while lunch and personal breaks have been shortened.  Down sizing has resulted in the American worker doing more than his/her share while the volume of work has dramatically increased for the individual employee.  The “schmooze” time (chit chats, lunch breaks, water cooler gossip, etc) that has been the necessary oil that lubricated the human equipment has been dramatically limited.  The benefits, workplace social activities, and other aspects that were helpful in mitigating interpersonal stress have been cutback.  The use of contract workers, per diem staff and temporary employees has resulted in a workforce that does not always feel like a coordinated and committed team with a common goal.  The advent of new technologies, most notably cell phones, pagers, and email, has resulted in a blurring of the boundaries between work and home and has, in many cases, turned the home or car into a second office.  Even on vacations, many people check in with the office in order to keep up with the flow of work.  Be it public sector or private industry… schools or banks… insurance companies or software start ups… the individual employee is the essential ingredient and must be viewed as an essential and valuable piece of equipment.

Most high-level administrative personnel will agree with the aforementioned comments and will even pay some lip service to the lofty notions.  However, they will also comment that this is all very easy to say, but with today’s economic flux the reality is that we must continue on the course of running lean and mean.  It is not understood that the application of some simple concepts can improve the productivity of an already hardworking group of workers.  Also, employees are responsible for their own self-maintenance.  Here are some suggestions:

The workplace:

1)    Managers must be cheerleaders.  Workers will work, athletes will play, and soldiers will fight very hard if they feel valued and appreciated.  Acknowledgement and appreciation of efforts is essential.  Comments like:  Thanks so much for staying late again tonight.”  “I appreciate you working thru lunch today.”  “Great job on that project.” are simple straightforward and so essential.

2)   Try to be sure that people take lunch breaks or coffee breaks on most days.  Research has found that people need a time out, especially when they are dealing with other people in a high intensity workstation.

3)   Build in some office schmooze time.  A Friday potluck lunch.  A Friday happy hour after work at the local watering hole.  An office football pool, a holiday gift swap, an office picnic, a weekly mediation or yoga class.

4)     Allow some flextime.

5)    A weekly staff meeting to proactively discuss issues, upcoming projects, etc.  Many work places have cut out staff meetings because there is not enough time.  Instead they are forced into a crisis management posture, which often results in more stress and greater allocation of time.

6)    Quiet rooms or time out rooms.  Numerous articles have begun to appear about the benefit of time outs.  Some work places designate an area as place where workers can go to mediate, take a “power nap”  (no more than 15 minutes), listen to music on head phones, etc.  The results are often a worker who then feels energized, focused and more productive.  This is especially useful in environments that are focused on computer screens and or customer service.

7)   Chair massages.  Bring in massage therapist who will give 5-minute massages to the staff while they sit at computer screens or in offices.   It is usually about $1 per minute and can be set up as a self-pay… or partial pay.

8)   Contact a local art school and arrange for art to be displayed in the hallways of the workplace.  Each month or two the art may be changed.  This is good for employees as well as the budding artists.

9)    In small offices, remember birthdays with some type of acknowledgment.

Employees:

1)      Try to leave work at work. 

2)      Be sure to take regular time outs and/or lunch breaks.

3)      Perhaps, use some of your lunch time to take a walk outside.

4)      If you are in a profession that requires much “head’ work, take up a hobby that provides concrete results such as wood working, sewing, model building, art, music lessons, etc.

5)      Reach out to other workers who seem to be under a lot of stress.

6)      Try to find some time for regular exercise.

7)      If feeling under stress, be sure to check with your physician.  Also, do not hesitate to seek out services through your EAP (if your company has one). Or, seek out counseling services through your health insurance.