As an employer, you are not responsible for your employees’ happiness, but you are responsible for their well-being and creating the best possible working conditions in the broadest sense of the word. But how do you do that in a rapidly changing job market that places different demands on employers and employees?
Mental capacity of employees
The view of work and working conditions has changed rapidly in recent years. Many fixed frameworks have shifted. This has caused different demands on employees. In our knowledge-based economy, great demands are placed on the mental capacity of employees. With that, work-related health risks are increasingly shifting from physical to psychological complaints.
Importance of social and communication skills employees
Employees have more and more freedom to work time and place independently. This freedom in working definitely has advantages. However, there is also a downside. In fact, the increased freedom means that employees (must) take more and more responsibility and initiative in work and career areas. This can also create uncertainty and makes an emphatic appeal to employees’ social and communication skills. Assertiveness, conflict management and collaboration are becoming increasingly important in the work environment. The (partial) removal of external supervision and of physical boundaries makes it necessary for employees to monitor their own limits.
Absenteeism Policy
An ongoing dialogue based on positive communication between employer and employees is essential for optimizing employee well-being and facilitating the best possible working conditions. A very important aspect of achieving this is to flesh out the health policy within your organization. Many organizations only have an absence policy and not a health policy. The focus of absenteeism policy is on reducing absenteeism. This is usually made measurable by establishing an absenteeism rate or absence rate as a Critical Performance Indicator (KPI). In practice, we also see that the vast majority of the available budget is spent on reducing absenteeism within the organization. Obviously, having a grip on absenteeism within your organization is a hygiene factor to start introducing and implementing a successful health policy. But there are many more gains to be made in addition….
From absence policy to health policy
The real purpose of health policy is to keep the employability of all employees as optimal as possible. More health, more fitness and therefore more energy and better productivity. This requires employers to create an environment in which employees feel the confidence and have the conditions and opportunities to be able to enhance their well-being and functioning from a bottom-up approach. This creates an ongoing conversation about “What do you need as an employee and what can we do as an organization to facilitate and motivate? This creates a virtuous circle where open communication and collaboration are key. And that is in the interest of employer and employee!
Success Factors
To introduce and implement a successful health policy, the following factors are essential:
- Executive support and ambassadorship
- Modern leadership
- Development Culture
- Bottom-up working
- Trust between organization and employees
- Open communication
- Inspiring environment
- Further strengthening talents and strengths
- Continuous process
- Sufficient knowledge within your organization about a health policy.
Want to know what’s best for your organization?
Our specialists are happy to help you in the complex playing field of strategic HR management, social security and sustainable employability. If you would like to know more about your specific situation or need advice in introducing and implementing a successful health policy, please contact our specialists.
