“Want to Get More Done at the Office? Just Stand,” recommends the Wall Street Journal. Inc. magazine proclaims: “Your Productivity Will Increase by 46 percent if You Stand at Your Desk, Says Study.”
There are many reports linking sit-stand workstations to improved performance, including a study by Texas A&M University’s Health Science Center School of Public Health, which monitored 167 employees at a Texan call center for six months. It showed that employees working at sit-stand desks made 23 to 53 percent more successful calls than co-workers at traditional desks.
The findings were published in the Journal IIE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors.
“We hope this work will show companies that although there might be some costs involved in providing stand-capable workstations, increased employee productivity over time will more than offset these initial expenses,” said Mark Benden, Ph.D., C.P.E., associate professor at the Texas A&M School of Public Health, director of the Texas A&M Ergonomics Center and member of the Center for Remote Health Technologies and Systems, and one of the authors of the study.
Most people who try a sit-stand desk first notice increased productivity, better focus and less mental fatigue. Next, they notice decreased back pain, body aches and physical fatigue. Even slight increases in movement throughout the day can lead to significant gains in overall health, personal productivity and organizational results.
The study helps round out the productivity question for business leaders analyzing sit-stand for their organization and moves the productivity dial in the right direction.
