The American Psychological Association (APA) has surveyed American workers and the findings of its 2018 Work and Well-Being Survey are available, free to all, here: http://bit.ly/2OKcn11
The APA’s findings provide insights into moods and opinions among the workforce today. It is “a snapshot of the U.S. workforce, including employee well-being and attitudes and opinions related to workplace policies and practices.”
The researchers determined for example, that “approximately 4 out of 5 employees reported that they are in good physical and mental health…around one-fifth of employed adults reported that in the past month, physical health problems kept them from achieving their goals at work…16 percent of U.S. workers said mental health problems such as depression or anxiety kept them from achieving their goals at work.”
Also, 35% of those surveyed said that they experienced chronic work stress. Interestingly, “Although around three-quarters of working Americans said they are satisfied with their job and motivated to do their best at work, just over half said their employer makes them feel valued, 1 in 5 said they don’t trust their employer, and almost 3 in 10 reported that they intend to seek employment outside of the company [where they now work] within the next year.”
Feeling valued by their employer is important because survey participants who felt valued “were more likely to be satisfied with their jobs and motivated to do their best.” In addition, only 50% of those surveyed reported that they get non-financial recognition at work. Examples provided of potential non-monetary forms of recognition include thank you cards or awards; the survey does not directly discuss the design of the workplace or similar topics.
The APA report is packed with additional information; for example, on employee perceptions of how fair their employer is. Interested readers are encouraged to review the report directly for material they can use in practice. People involved with workplace design who read the APA report are likely to come away with new insights on how design can be used to optimize at-work wellbeing and performance.
Sally Augustin, PhD,a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.