Workstation design: workspace and performance

Workplace design is one of the most important elements in achieving worker efficiency and reducing worker turnover. It must be borne in mind that a workstation must respond to the needs of both the company and the employee and it is therefore essential that it is designed according to both perspectives. 

What is workplace design?

Job design is the branch of human resources in charge of create each of the jobs that will make up part of a company's existing vacancies. It should be borne in mind that a job must respond to at least two aspects. On the one hand, a job is the place where a worker will have to resolve the issues that the company raises, that is to say, where he/she will be able to find a job, will carry out useful work for the company. On the other hand, the employee will carry out this useful work for the company because he/she will receive payment for his/her work. 

In this sense, the worker's remuneration implies the need to a perspective that goes beyond just wages. In this sense, certain so-called “in-kind” payments contribute greatly to employee job satisfaction. Thus, when designing jobs, consider the possibility of including certain benefits for employees such as the Ticket Restaurant, Childcare Ticket or the Transport Ticket, The job design, among other things, contributes to making the job that is designed much more attractive to the future employee. 

How important is it and how does it affect workers' performance?

One of the biggest handicaps a company faces is a high turnover of employees in the workplace. This is due to a variety of causes. However, poor job design is often a key issue to avoid this. In addition, a poorly designed workplace also affects other elements of the company, such as a underperformance on the part of the worker, a more absenteeism or even a ineffective human resources management available. 

Thus, the design of jobs that are useful and necessary for the company, and at the same time, that are attractive and satisfying for employees, is an extremely important element for the correct development of any company. 

Key elements in workplace design

There are many elements that play a role, rightly or wrongly, in ensuring good workplace design. In general, some of those that should not be overlooked in any successful design are as follows:

• Responding to a real needIt may seem obvious, but this is not always the case. A job must meet a real need for the company. In other words, the person occupying the job must perform a function that is useful to the company. Otherwise, the company will waste resources unnecessarily and the worker will feel dissatisfied in the job in question, as he/she will not feel fulfilled in the work he/she is doing. 
• Be attractive to the workerIn addition to the importance of a job being useful, it must also be attractive to the employee. In this respect, it is important to take into account all aspects surrounding each job, from the environment and functions the worker performs, to the working conditions and remuneration that he or she receives. In fact, in many cases, it is not enough to offer a high salary to make a worker feel satisfied, but it is necessary to improve their conditions from a broader perspective. One possible solution is to Flexible Compensation, This is ultimately a way of increasing the purchasing power of workers without impacting on the financial coffers of the company. 

Customise workstationsFinally, another element that cannot be overlooked in the design of jobs is that each worker is unique and each function in the company responds to general circumstances that can be delimited at a given moment and time. Because of this, greater flexibility in reframing jobs in order to adapt them to present needs The company and the employee is one of the key elements that guarantee the success of the job design process.