You’ve launched your workplace ergonomics program. The emails have gone out. Employees have been invited to complete their self-assessment and eLearning. And then… nothing. Or, at least, not enough.

A handful of employees complete everything straight away. Others open the invitation, think “I’ll do that later,” and promptly forget about it. Some start the process but don’t finish. And before long, what should have taken days starts taking weeks.

Improving engagement in ergonomics doesn’t necessarily mean sending more reminders or chasing employees harder. Often, it comes down to creating the right conditions for people to engage in the first place – and here, we discuss 5 tips for doing so.

How to improve engagement with ergonomic assessments and learning material

Our office ergonomics software, Healthy Working, already includes features designed to encourage employees to complete their self-assessment and eLearning, including prompts and reminders that help keep ergonomics on their radar.

But even the most effective digital tools work best when they’re supported by the right conditions. So, what can employers do to help?

1. Give employees time to complete it

Let’s start with one of the simplest questions: when are employees actually supposed to do their assessment and training?

If the answer is “whenever you get a chance,” it could be that some people won’t get that chance for quite a while.

From meetings to deadlines and customer admin, your people may have plenty of other tasks competing for their attention. Adding an ergonomics assessment to that list and hoping they’ll find time for it is unlikely to produce the engagement you want.

Instead, consider giving employees protected time to complete their Healthy Working self-assessment and eLearning as part of their normal working day.

You could, for instance, allocate a specific period during a team meeting, block out time in employees’ calendars, or simply make it clear that the assessment and eLearning are legitimate work activities that should be completed during working hours.

This small change could make a big difference. You’re no longer asking employees to find time for ergonomics. You’re giving them time for ergonomics.

It also sends an important message about how the organization views employee health and wellbeing. If employees are expected to complete the program in their own time, it can easily feel like another obligation. If time is deliberately set aside for it, the organization is demonstrating that it matters.

Don’t stop with time for the assessment and eLearning

It’s possible that a busy employee may be concerned about the time it would take to resolve ergonomics issues flagged during the self-assessment phase. This could quietly encourage underreporting of discomfort.

Communicating with your teams that there will also be time dedicated to resolving issues that are escalated beyond the eLearning phase can therefore set the foundation for better engagement and reporting accuracy.

2. Explain why ergonomics self-assessment and eLearning matters to your employees

“Please complete your ergonomics assessment” isn’t the most compelling call to action on its own. Employees need to understand what’s in it for them.

From improved productivity to fewer workers’ comp claims, stronger recruitment and retention, and even a stronger cybersecurity posture, it’s all too easy to focus on the business benefits of an ergonomics platform like Healthy Working. 

And while you should feel perfectly able to speak freely on operational goals, to employees this can cause feelings of pressure. Leading with the very real benefits they will get from the process removes this pressure and provides genuine incentive to engage.

Before launching Healthy Working, explain that the business has invested in ergonomics software to improve employee health. Be sure to let each employee know that completing the assessment can help them identify and resolve potential issues with their workstation, be it their office chair, desk, monitors, peripherals or working habits.

Keep the message simple.

Explain:

• Why the organization is introducing Healthy Working.
• What employees will be asked to do.
• How long they should expect it to take.
• What they’ll get out of it – greater comfort, fewer strains and headaches, an easier workday, and improved wellbeing outside of work. Potentially even an indirect but positive impact on mental health.
• Where they can go for help if they have questions.

This is particularly important if employees have seen a steady stream of mandatory training and corporate initiatives come and go. If Healthy Working arrives with little explanation, it can easily be perceived as just another box to tick.

3. Choose the right time to launch your ergonomics software

Launching a digital program when employees are already dealing with an unusually heavy workload or another technology rollout isn’t likely to help engagement.

That’s not to say that you should wait for a quiet week when everyone has plenty of spare time. In most organizations, that week doesn’t exist. But it helps to be aware of what’s competing for employees’ attention.

For example, consider whether your planned launch coincides with:

• a major system or technology rollout;
• annual compliance or mandatory training;
• a particularly busy operational period;
• significant organizational change;
• large-scale internal communications campaigns; or
• periods when employees are already experiencing high levels of digital demand.

4. Get managers involved with the rollout

Line Managers are an often underutilised resource for improving workplace wellbeing and safety culture.

HR, health and safety and ergonomics teams can send the emails. But employees often take their cues from the person they work with every day. This is why giving line managers a simple briefing on expectations can be helpful.

For example, let managers know when employees should complete their self-assessment and eLearning, how much time should be made available, and where they or their team can direct questions or problems.

Then give managers permission to reinforce the message with their teams. A simple reminder in a team meeting could be surprisingly effective:

“Don’t forget to complete your Healthy Working assessment this week. We’ve set aside time for you to do it, so please use that time rather than trying to fit it in around everything else.”

That’s very different from repeatedly sending organization-wide emails saying “Reminder: please complete your training.”

It also makes ergonomics part of the team’s normal working conversation rather than something that sits entirely with HR or health and safety.

Related – What is the best approach to office ergonomics management?

5. Remove barriers before they arise

Finally, to improve employee engagement with ergonomics assessments, make the process as easy as possible. This sounds obvious, but small points of friction can quickly turn into procrastination.

An employee tries to log in and can’t remember their credentials. Someone working from home isn’t sure whether they can complete the assessment remotely. Another employee isn’t sure what information they’ll need. Someone encounters a technical problem but doesn’t know who to contact.

None of these problems are particularly serious, but each one gives an employee a reason to stop. And once someone has closed the browser and moved on to their next meeting, getting them back can be surprisingly difficult.

Before launching Healthy Working, make sure employees know:

• how to access the program;
• what they need to do to get started;
• whether they can complete it from their normal working location;
• what equipment or workstation information they may need;
• who to contact if they experience a technical problem; and
• what to expect from the assessment and eLearning.

The fewer obstacles between an employee and the start button, the better.

Don’t just launch the program. Create the conditions for engagement

Getting employees to complete an ergonomics self-assessment and eLearning isn’t always a matter of sending an invitation and hoping for the best.

Healthy Working provides prompts, reminders and relevant guidance to help employees engage with the program. But employers can strengthen that engagement by thinking ahead and taking steps to make the process as easy as possible.

Learn more about the features and impact of Healthy Working.