Renewed TyöOptimi resource survey identifies information workload at organisational level

Work is a big part of our lives, and often hectic working life can be overwhelming. When work overwhelms your resources and you can't recover, you risk burnout and exhaustion. Prolonged stress increases the risk of depression and other illnesses, and can even lead to early invalidity. However, the stress of the job can be addressed.

– Identifying workload is not necessarily easy, as the need to keep going overrides the message of the need for recovery. Terveystalo's TyöOptimi resource survey is particularly suitable for work communities with knowledge work and expert tasks. The survey maps the relationship between work, resources and recovery, and it serves, for example, as a good baseline measurement and measure to guide measures in well-being at work projects," says Jyrki Talvitie, psychotherapist and psychologist at Terveystalo.

– It makes sense to identify undetected stress, as even mild work fatigue impairs working memory and takes months to recover from. Symptoms of stress, such as irritability, insomnia and various pain conditions, also have a significant impact on working capacity," Talvitie continues.

Aiming for brain recovery and balance

The right level of challenge and job management ensure optimal work performance. When the demands of work and the capacity to do it are not in balance, there is a risk of work becoming too demanding.

– People have an innate tendency to get excited about new things and to do a lot, but this can also go too far. TyöOptimi provides information on concrete work-related stress factors, making it easier to plan measures. By addressing the problems, we can increase well-being at work and help employees find a balance between work and life," says Talvitie.

In 2023, the new reporting of the TyöOptimi resource survey will enable more accurate sub-group reporting.

– The lower limit for forming a respondent group is 10 people, but there are plenty of grouping possibilities. The new reporting helps to drill down into the different sub-groups of an organisation at a more detailed level, for example, based on whether the respondent works as a front-line employee, day or shift work or teleworking," says Talvitie.

The selected sample will be compared to a benchmarking data set of around 10,000 respondents collected by Terveystalo between 2017 and 2022, which provides companies with information on the resilience of their employees' problem-solving abilities in relation to workload and their situation compared to other companies.

– At a general level, the data shows that in recent years, changes in working life have rapidly increased the cognitive load of the working-age population, and work seems to put increasing strain on the brain. The aim of the survey is to provide information on work-related stress at a concrete level, so that solutions can be developed to reduce stress and manage work," says Talvitie.

Effectiveness in targeting measures based on an electronic survey

TyöOptimi can be used, for example, as part of a workplace survey or in the context of a well-being at work project. It identifies the level of workers' work capacity over the next three years or so and is particularly suitable for those in knowledge work or professional work. The TyöOptimi resource survey can be completed electronically in Finnish or English via the Terveystalo app or online service, and takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. The answers are used to compile feedback material at organisational or workplace level, which complements the overall picture of well-being at work in the organisation and helps to target measures at workplace level.