Learning to successfully shape Work 4.0

Many companies are currently looking for ways to make adaptation to changing work requirements good while ensuring that all employees are on board. At the same time, they need to remain attractive to skilled workers, reduce high rates of sick leave, and mitigate health risks. In practice, however, there is often a lack of knowledge in occupational psychology needed to measure and manage the effects of various workplace factors on people.

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Matthias Schmidt and certified psychologist Katharina Roitzsch from the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences are members of the Dresden Expert Network for Psychological Work Design (depa). In recent years, the network has developed an intensive continuing education program in collaboration with the German Academy of Psychology (DPA) and now offers it nationwide. On February 7, 2020, the training program “Psychological Work Design—An Intensive Training Course for Workplace Practice (IFPA)” was presented to a broad public for the first time. More than 60 HR managers, CEOs, and experts in work and organizational design gathered at the Hygiene Museum in Dresden. Following a keynote presentation on “Psycho-Logic in the World of Work 4.0” by Prof. Dr. Matthias Schmidt, practical workshops were held on current topics related to the workplace of tomorrow.

In the future, people will need a variety of skills, which are taught in the modules of the intensive training program, including:

• Design—what matters? Applying findings from occupational psychology and identifying design needs
• Methods of work and organizational analysis: Finding and applying the right tools for one’s specific needs
• Work Design: How does it work and why? Success factors and concrete case studies
• Evaluation and sustainable implementation: Measuring changes appropriately, making corrections where necessary, and ensuring sustainability

In this intensive training program, participants acquire the practical skills needed to design human work. This enables them to initiate, carry out, and manage projects in psychological work analysis and design based on the latest scientific findings. By the end of the program, they will have applied key psychological analytical methods in practice. They will understand the impact of various work-related factors on achievement, learning, and health. They will have applied screening methods for work analysis in practice and worked with the results. Guided by experienced occupational psychologists, they will have identified a suitable work design solution for a specific problem they have identified. They will be able to design the implementation process within the organization in a way that ensures long-term sustainability.