More and more workers in Switzerland are suffering from stress. As a result, the failure rates increase. In order to minimize absenteeism, many companies start with company health management. In doing so, however, you often miss the core of the problem…
Stress levels rise, absenteeism increases
Would a dentist seal a hole in the tooth if tooth decay was still raging underneath? That makes no sense! But that’s exactly how many companies try to get the absenteeism of their employees, which has been increasing for years, under control. The cause of this has been proven to be stress. According to the Job Stress Index , every fourth worker in Switzerland regularly suffers from it. Since 2015, the level has risen from around 22 percent to over 27 percent in 2018.
Work-life balance offers should often do the trick. The daily fruit basket, yoga, sports and wellness offers. Surely such donations increase the feel-good climate. But for companies to really help their employees, they need to get to the root of all evil. And it’s in a completely different place.
Poor leadership is often the reason for increasing absenteeism
A major factor in increasing absenteeism in Swiss companies: poor leadership. In particular, there is a lack of appreciation. This is confirmed by the Recruiting Trends 2019 study , which is representative for Switzerland. According to this, this is one of the most important building blocks for a healthy corporate culture. However, only half of the company employees surveyed experienced such a culture of mutual respect.
The reason: Many executives have not learned to lead appreciatively. The managers who run companies today still went through the hard school of the top-down age, in which strict guidelines from the top down set the tone. There was no room for mutual respect and trust.
Today, however, precisely these factors are becoming increasingly important. Because managers no longer develop ideas alone. Instead, entire teams work to advance their organization. Meanwhile, managers slip into the role of enablers. Above all, they moderate the innovation processes in their team and ensure that ideas are heard. This is not possible without praise, regular feedback and constructive criticism.
The good news: these skills can be developed. In management training , managers analyze their leadership behavior, learn about the skills they lack and train them in a targeted manner.
How do leaders learn best?
But wait a minute! Doesn’t that take a lot of time? Time that managers don’t have? Not necessarily. With a mobile solution, organizations kill two birds with one stone: They train their managers, but completely stress-free. The principle: With the smartphone, learning can be easily integrated into everyday life. For example, managers can use a learning app to access or edit learning content whenever they have time.
There are also solutions in which the human aspect is not left behind. Managers are connected to their personal trainers via the tool – whether in the virtual classroom or via a private chat. And if you are interested, there is also the opportunity to exchange ideas face to face from time to time. This is how managers gradually advance from leader to digital leader – this means executives who have adapted their management behavior to the challenges of the digital age. These are in demand today. And only this.
