• The robust employee

The robust employee

We continue to see a dull connection between financially conditioned company layout (open offices and free seating) and the increase in work-related stress as well as the demand for the so-called robust employee

In our article on DeSK, we recently wrote about the so-called robust employee, and did not put our fingers in between when we commented on what we think about it as a buzzword and, moreover, about the companies' increasing search for the superhuman. Along the way, we also linked the demand for robust employees with open offices and the increase in work-related stress. This is not to say that open offices are the only reason.

It's not just us who are worried!

In the meantime, several good posts have appeared on the subject (see, for example, the two links at the end of this article). Professor of management philosophy Ole Fogh Kirkeby from CBS is especially nice in the saliva when he without a filter speaks on the subject with some really good points. For example. that the robust middle manager has to stifle his empathy in order to be robust. Poor employees, I'm just saying!

It must be clear to everyone that this is not what we need in the future. We would like to get rid of the work-related stress. Do not just passively accept the development and hope that some robust people will come by and save us. Therefore, I think the robust employee is only a mirage that companies in bewilderment are currently envisioning.

The interior design can be used to reduce stress and the need for the so-called robust employees

At Grape, we have always made interiors and interior products with a holistic interest in the individual and the community. So people. Recently, we threw ourselves into the dialogue about AbW (Acitivity based Workplace). Precisely because we could immediately see that here we have some new interior design principles that precisely cater to people and their working conditions. So, in fact, a type of decor that, used properly, can remove some of the company's stressors and send the most silly buzzword of the time to the count.

What do you think of "the robust employee" as a buzzword? And can you use the interior design as a tool in the fight against stress? Feel free to send me a few comments and suggestions along the way. You will find me under "Contact team Grape" in the black block at the bottom of this page.

Christian Nygaard, Designer & Partner, Grape

By the way! Everyone who is interested in people in interior design is welcome join my Linkedin network. Just send me an invitation with the text “people and decor”.

Here are some links to what others have written about the robust employee (in danish - use Google Translate):

”Robust” er blevet et buzzword i jobannoncer »

Robuste mennesker er en katastrofe på arbejdspladsen »

Det er et sygdomssymptom, når virksomheder søger robuste medarbejdere »

Robuste medarbejdere ødelægger velfærdsstaten »