The relevance of cognitive ergonomics for the work well-being of knowledge workers

Abstract

Working life has changed rapidly over the past century and the role of knowledge work has grown significantly in modern economies. Cognitive stress and strain have been identified as serious challenges in many workplaces causing various problems both to the work itself and especially to the health of knowledge workers. This master’s thesis aimed to study the phenomena of cognitive ergonomics in the context of knowledge workers, and thus, present information available on the relevance of cognitive ergonomics for the well-being at work of knowledge workers. The purpose was to collect and produce information that could be used in organisations in different fields for developing and evaluating the occupational well-being of knowledge workers.

A scoping review was chosen as the method of the master’s thesis. A literature search was carried out using search terms according to the search strategy in the databases CINAHL Complete, ProQuest Central, Taylor & Francis Online and Finna. In addition, the material was collected by a manual search. A total of six publications corresponding to predefined inclusion criteria and relevant to the research question were selected for the scoping review. The selected publications included two research articles, two institutional development project reports and two institutional research project reports. The Critical Appraisal Checklists of the Joanna Briggs Institute were used for the quality assessment of the selected publications, and the data was analysed by using inductive content analysis.

The results indicated that among knowledge workers, cognitive ergonomics promotes overall health, functional capacity, and occupational safety as well as protects against negative health effects of cognitive stressors such as cognitive overload, stress, and burnout. Deficiencies in cognitive ergonomics seemed to be common in knowledge work, and cognitive stressors were reported in all publications included in this scoping review. The data indicated aspects of knowledge work form a paradox since a near identical organisational or work-related issue might be experienced as both a source of stress or an opportunity depending on an individual, and therefore, the same working conditions could cause both enthusiasm and stress. Thus, the practices of cognitive ergonomics should be built on a workplace-specific basis considering the needs of the work community, the nature of work tasks and demands as well as cognitive load factors on a professional, organisational, and sector-specific basis, without forgetting individuals.

It can be concluded that cognitive ergonomics plays an essential role in promoting and maintaining the work well-being of knowledge workers. The findings suggest organisations should create clear, functional, and sufficiently individualised practices of cognitive ergonomics by involving the entire work community throughout organisational structures in the development and maintenance of cognitive ergonomics, which is a process not only shared but continuous.