Vital business: from cure to prevention

What is vital business? What do you and your employees need to be healthy, safe and enjoy working? Employability coach Peter Bierings of ZekerArbo shares tips.

When an employee calls in sick, the first thing you think about as an SME entrepreneur is: how can I still achieve my goal for the day? You jump in yourself or look for a replacement. "After all, a baker has to make sure his bread is ready on time," says Peter Bierings, employability coach at ZekerArbo. "When they call in sick, most SME entrepreneurs are primarily concerned with the question: how do I make sure the business keeps running? If an employee is sick longer, I call an employer to help."

As an employability coach, Bierings helps employers reduce the number of employees who are sick for long periods of time. "If your employee stays home longer, the costs can add up considerably," Bierings says. "I and my colleagues help business owners get their staff back to work healthy as soon as possible. We also increasingly give advice on prevention, or, in other words, vital business."

What is vital business?

Sickness Absence can never be completely prevented, but you can make sure it happens less often in your business. "Vital business means working on the health of your company," Bierings explains. "Not only the financial health of the company, but also sustainable employability of your staff. Those who do vital business ensure that their employees are healthy, safe and enjoy working."

It is also important to look to the future. "In a vital organization, you make sure people can handle their work permanently. That's not just about their physical health. The world is changing rapidly, so it's important to retrain in time."

What does vitality provide?

In a vital organization, employees are sick less often. Long-term disability is less common. Your employees feel safe and enjoy going to work. In short, working in a vital organization is much more fun. Moreover, the organization is more productive and you save absenteeism costs as an employer.

"In addition, it is easier to attract and retain staff in a vital company," Bierings said. "In the current labor market, it is difficult for many employers to find employees. So preventing attrition is even more urgent. Moreover, employees are less likely to look for another job if they are enjoying themselves."

How do I ensure that employees are healthy, safe and enjoy working?
In a vital organization, the employer pays attention to physical and mental health. There are all kinds of ways to help your employees live and work healthier. Examples of ways to encourage physical health include a subscription to the gym, a healthy company lunch or a company bicycle.

Also pay attention to the mental well-being of your staff. Ensure sustainable development, a good working atmosphere and regularly ask your employees if they are still satisfied with their jobs.

Also pay attention to the private sphere, tips Bierings. "This is something many employers find difficult," he explains. "After all, they don't want to violate employees' privacy. But if you see that someone starts to perform worse, is late more often or regularly shows up at work with a hangover, it is wise to have a talk."

My employee has private problems. What can I do?

As an employer, you can support your people with private problems. "Ask how someone is doing and discuss concerns," says Bierings. "Realize that you don't have to solve the problem, but you can help them avoid dropping out. Does your employee have an addiction? Then suggest going to a preventive consultation with the company doctor."

An open conversation is also essential when it comes to work-life balance. "What an employee needs depends on all kinds of factors," Bierings explains. "Consider his stage of life, for example. Young parents have different needs than older employees who provide informal care. In an open conversation, you can come to a solution together. Perhaps you can rearrange the hours or temporarily set up a leave of absence."

He advises making clear arrangements for leave and working hours. "A solution must come from both sides," he says. "If someone starts later, it makes sense for them to work longer in the afternoon."

How do I find out how vital my business is?

If you want to know how vital your company is, you can turn to experts such as labor and organization experts (a&o experts) or employability coaches. Bierings and his colleagues at Zorg van de Zaak, for example, know a lot about vital entrepreneurship within SMEs.

Want instant insight into the vitality of your organization? Then do the Vitality Scan. You will be asked a number of short questions about the physical and mental health of your team. Afterwards, you will receive immediate personal advice and quickly discover what else you can do to improve the vitality of your organization.

It is also important to talk regularly with employees about vitality and employability. In this way you can discover what problems they have, what motivates them and how you can support them. For example, hold a so-called FiT-talk (Functioning in the Future) about opportunities, challenges and mutual expectations. Read more about such a conversation here.