Enhancing Business Effectiveness and Worker Sustainability Through HFE

Abstract

At the 2016 HFES Presidential Address, Bill Marras made a plea for the membership to begin thinking about demonstrating the value of HFE in terms that are persuasive to business leaders. We explore what this might look like. Banks opens with findings from her review and analysis of potentially relevant business measures from other fields and reframes the value proposition for HFE in terms of workforce sustainability. With that as a framework for discussion, panelists address key aspects of an expansive set of metrics. Mosier discusses new emphases on Human-Centered Organizations reflected in international standards and guiding principles. Robertson discusses the process she and Liberty Mutual leadership worked through to identify HFE implementations that responded to business needs. Honan discusses how she and Genentech leadership worked through ergonomic recommendations that supported safe and productive work in multiple environments. Cascio presents specifics on how business value can be calculated including ROI, utility and productivity.

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