“An optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” Though these words were first uttered decades ago by Winston Churchill, they defined our outlook on this challenging year.

We rang in last New Year on a high at EWI Works, celebrating our expanding team and growing business.

The first couple of months went as planned; we continued to work on broadening the scope of our services and investing in the latest technology to ensure offering our clients the best outcomes.

Then the pandemic started and our bright future started to seem a little uncertain. As with so many other organizations in our community and across the world, for a time, business ground to a near halt.

But when we needed it the most, our team banded together like never before, with everyone making sacrifices to keep the lights on.

Getting Through COVID-19

Yet, something good came out of the chaos of COVID-19; when everyone was thrust into working from home, the importance of ergonomics and self-care became more clear to people than ever before.

A year ago, I wrote “Ergonomics is… very linked to other aspects of health. Your comfort at work is tied to how much you move and sleep, what you do in your personal life, how you eat, your mental wellness, and, well, just about everything.”

It didn’t take long for this to become evident: within weeks of working from home, many people were in distress. A laptop at the kitchen table just doesn’t cut it, a message we spread loud and clear through many media appearances.

Suddenly, most of our workforce was in need of ergonomic support. Not only is this our area of expertise, we were also fully prepared to offer our services remotely, something we’ve already been doing for more than half a decade.

At the same time, there were slower periods in the year. We used this opportunity to expand our virtual services, adding Remote Ergonomics Coaching sessions and Occupational Therapy and Wellness Expert Coaching.

We also adapted our flagship Office Ergonomics Essentials Course to deliver it completely online. Our first cohort finished up this week and I can proudly say it was a resounding success!

An Exciting Year Ahead

In recent years we have embraced a more holistic approach to ergonomics and wellness. Realizing that there are countless factors in success and health at work and at home – especially now that the two are increasingly blurred – we invested heavily in developing our upcoming Employee Experience Enhancement Tool. Beyond that, our Taking Control of Sleep course is launching soon, too!

You can expect to see more on the tech side from EWI Works in 2021, as we continue our partnership with Kinetica Labs. We’ve brought their revolutionary video-based ergonomic risk assessment technology to the field with outstanding results.

We’re working on a ground-breaking exoskeleton project with industry and academic partners, as well. More on that to come!

EWI staff also had a few notable achievements this year: Tobi and Shane got their CCPE certifications, Shane relocated to Calgary to bolster our team there, and Ali became VP, Innovation and Technology.

After what 2020 had in store, I can say with the most certainty I’ve ever had that it’s all up from here. The light is visible on the horizon and we’re ready to seize the day.

Happy Holidays! – Linda

P.S. As we go into the holidays, what’s one thing you’re grateful for?