DOES PLAY AT WORK HELP REDUCE WORKLOAD, INCREASING WELL-BEING? A POST STUDY FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION ANALYSIS

Abstract

This research focuses on mental leisure activities (games such as crosswords, puzzles and sudoku) to combat fatigue at workplace. One of the aims of this research is to explore the utilisation of these mental games observing the effects on call centre employees. On one hand, mental games are introduced as interventions to stimulate the mind, a form of cognitive load. On the other hand, this mental task is introduced to enhance the mental wellbeing of employees, which is then measured by using a perceived workload scale. In this research NASA rTLX was used to measure perceived workload, prior to this focus group study. This included a four-week intervention study. Participants indicated that well-being was greater for those employees playing the games as compared to those employees who were not playing the games. In addition to this, well-being enhanced as weekend started approaching and employees felt much happier playing the games as the work week ended.