ABSTRACT

Office work has undergone a radical change over recent years. Technological changes have led to a situation where users have little reason to leave their workstations. Today’s office is managed in such a way that workers can access almost anything they need using their computer system. From a business point of view, it makes sense to ensure that the workforce ‘specialises’ in particular fields. By specialising in one field, they become skilled at that particular task and faster. The only problem with this approach is that the task becomes monotonous and repetitive. As a consequence, many workers have started to experience discomfort and pain brought on by the repetitive nature of tasks, usually combined with a lack of rest breaks and a lack of task variety. To allow a job to be performed without risk to the user, thought has to be given to a number of issues, such as the speed with which the task is performed, how long it is performed without interruption, how long a rest break should be and whether there is variety in the work. This chapter takes an in-depth look at job design, work rate, work hardening, the consequences of sudden changes in work rate or workload, task variety, repetition, job rotation, job enlargement, job enrichment, rest breaks, overtime, incentives, motivation, shift work, the compressed working week, and managing change.