2023年8月2日,

如果有一件事大多数上班族可以达成一致,那就是他们会感觉不那么富有成效的一天结束的时候,每个工作一周的结束。现在,德州农工大学的一组研究人员发现了这一现象的客观证据。最近德州农工大学公共卫生学院的跨学科研究使用数据收集的方法表明,员工是不活跃,更容易错误在下午和周五,周五下午代表最低水平的工人的生产力。这项研究发表在最近一期的《公共科学图书馆•综合》,是由Drs。Taehyun卢武铉和Nishat斯哈桑的流行病学和生物统计学,连同Drs。Chukwuemeka Esomonu约瑟夫·亨德里克斯和马克Benden的环境和职业健康,和研究生Anisha Aggarwal来自卫生部的行为。研究人员观察了789名办公室员工的计算机使用量度德克萨斯州的一家大型能源公司在两年的时间——1月1日,2017年,2018年12月31日。“大多数工人的生产力的研究使用员工自我报告,监督评估或可穿戴技术,但这些可以主观和入侵,“Benden说,教授和部门负责人的环境和职业健康。“相反,我们使用电脑的使用指标,比如打字速度,打字错误和鼠标活动——客观,无创数据在计算机工作模式。“团队然后比较电脑使用模式在不同天的一天的星期和时间看到什么样的模式出现了。“我们发现,使用电脑增加了一周,然后周五大幅下降,”卢武铉说,流行病学和生物统计学的部门助理教授。 “People typed more words and had more mouse movement, mouse clicks and scrolls every day from Monday through Thursday, then less of this activity on Friday.” In addition, Roh said, computer use decreased every afternoon, and especially on Friday afternoons. “Employees were less active in the afternoons and made more typos in the afternoons—especially on Fridays,” he said. “This aligns with similar findings that the number of tasks workers complete increases steadily from Monday through Wednesday, then decreases on Thursday and Friday.” What is the takeaway for employers? To start, flexible work arrangements, such as hybrid work or a four-day work week, may lead to happier and more productive employees. As of May 2023, about 60 percent of full-time, paid workers in the United States worked entirely on-site. The remainder either worked remotely or had a hybrid arrangement that involved a combination of remote and on-site work. In addition, many employees have a compressed workweek in which they work longer hours, but on fewer days. “Other studies have found that those who work from home or work fewer days have less stress from commuting, workplace politics and other factors, and thus have more job satisfaction,” Benden said. “These arrangements give workers more time with their families and thus reduce work-family conflicts, and also give them more time for exercise and leisure activities, which have been shown to improve both physical and mental health.” Not only that, but flexible work arrangements could boost the bottom line in other ways, such as reductions in electricity use, carbon footprint and carbon dioxide emissions. “And now,” Benden said, “the findings from our study can further help business leaders as they identify strategies to optimize work performance and workplace sustainability.” By Ann Kellett, Texas A&M University School of Public Health Journal