Brainwork stresses and inspires in every industry

Today’s work is, above all, cognitive work i.e. brainwork. Brainwork is thinking and working with information and includes noticing, recording and remembering things, problem-solving, decision-making, reading, and learning new information and skills. Even many traditionally physical work tasks become more cognitively-oriented under the conditions of the digital era. In forestry work, for example, the different kinds of brainwork requirements related to operating a forester and its systems have become more emphasized than the physical requirements of lumberjack work. Similarly, due to the automatisation and robotisation of industry, the physical requirements of work are often becoming less important but the share of control-room-like information work is increasing. In healthcare, information systems, recording and all kind of information work are highlighted alongside the physical and nursing tasks of the care personnel. In an office, expert work is clearly brainwork and in each industry, the work methods and work environment can create additional cognitive stress for the work, in addition to the work tasks themselves.

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The average prevalence of different brainwork characteristics, situations and conditions can be examined with result graphs. It is important to identify the different information processing requirements and conditions of work so that the working conditions can be planned to support success in the work in question. It is essential for all kind of work that the required things are noticed, there are not too many things to remember and enough time has been allocated to information processing. Every form of work has many kinds of brainwork characteristics, but there are also significant differences between forms of work. The five most common factors of brainwork can vary for respondents of different ages in different industries, at different stages of their careers. Some tasks require persevering concentration while others demand team work or talking with others.

How challenging brainwork tasks are also varies. Routine tasks based on competence and highly developed skills can be completed automatically, in which case they do not really take up a person’s limited cognitive capacity. Instead, learning new things and some work situations can be cognitively very demanding. These tasks include keeping several things in progress in one’s mind or working with conflicting instructions and information. Certain working conditions also steal cognitive capacity from the work tasks themselves. According to research, things such as interruptions and speech-induced noise are common stress factors in many workplaces and they make brainwork difficult, slowing activity down and making errors more likely. For different groups, different brainwork factors can become highlighted in the background of experienced stress and recovering from work.

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In addition to the prevalence of different brainwork factors, it is important to examine how many of the respondents perceive each area as strenuous and how many as inspiring. The brainwork areas that the majority of the respondents report to be strenuous are psychosocial stress factors. Psychosocial stress factors decrease well-being at work and can also be associated with health-related problems. If psychologically strenuous things are common in work, the health-related risk can be estimated to be bigger. The brainwork factors that are mainly seen as inspiring are the resource factors of brainwork. Resource factors increase well-being at work and can shield from stress.

Alongside the prevalence of different brainwork factors it is important to examine whether the factors are mainly stress factors or resource factors. Additionally, the way brainwork factors are related to experienced stress and recovery can also be examined. The graphs show stress on four different levels, of which the lowest 10% experiences very little stress and the topmost 10% experiences very much stress. The other two stress levels are ‘experienced stress level lower than average’ and ‘experienced stress level higher than average’. The graph shows how the experienced stress varies between different subgroups and in relation to the prevalence, strenuousness and inspiring aspect of brainwork factors. Correspondingly, the graphs also show the experience of recovery in different level groups. A prolonged stress experience exposes a person to exhaustion and illnesses. It is important to change the work and conditions so that they support fluent and healthy brainwork. The strenuous and stress-related factors of brainwork must be decreased or managed and it is important to enable inspiring resource factors of brainwork. The management of overall stress of brainwork is important from the viewpoint of work performance and work ability.