Why is sustainable employability important?
From a salad bar in the canteen, free yoga classes to a budget for relaxation. More and more companies are investing in various initiatives to increase the sustainable employability of employees within the organization. This movement is partly fueled by the aging and the increased competition in the business world.
Sustainable employability heeft een meerwaarde wanneer werkgevers en medewerkers op alle niveaus samenwerken. Vitality and knowledge play an important role in this. Employees who feel involved, can make a meaningful contribution, or feel at home in the organization have higher sustainable employability. In addition, it is important that employers commit to promoting the work climate that they facilitate.
Out
research
van de Universiteit Utrecht it appears that there are six factors that have a proven influence on the sustainable employability of both employers and employees. These are: workload, cohesion, support from management, organizational citizenship behavior, career opportunities and engagement. Sustainable employability is at its core about a joint approach to enable employees to continuously work, learn and perform with good energy.
How can you increase the sustainable employability of employees?
Change does not happen overnight. It is important to work purposefully on the sustainable employability of employees in your organization. Based on the following points of attention, you can get started yourself:
Think about the long term
Develop a strategy tailored to the physical and mental needs of your employees. Keep in mind that everyone's health is different. Factors that influence it include genes, personal lifestyle, and the home and work environment. Better managing, for example, work pressure increases employees' sustainable employability.
Choose a health budget
In the long term you will see the benefits when you, as an organization, invest in health programs. Allocate part of your total HR budget to a standard offering for your employees' health and wellbeing. This could be a budget for mindfulness or a membership to a gym of their choice.
Encourage open communication
When you choose a new approach to the well-being of your employees, it is important to communicate openly about the reasons. Encourage interaction within teams and bring employees together. Good cohesion and interaction keep employees sustainably employable. For example, choose (online) teambuilding or a training activity for your employees.
Offer career opportunities
Make sure you provide sufficient learning opportunities to your employees. The right career perspective, for example with promotions, is not only important for sustainable employability, but it also gives employees the feeling that they can get better at their work. Customization is needed here. Younger employees usually want this fairly quickly develop , while seasoned employees may need a little push to learn new things. Look at the personal growth opportunities. One needs a course in personal leadership and another needs refresher training in subject-matter areas. Ask what your employees need!
Measure, measure, measure
Regardless of which approach you choose, it remains important to monitor the physical and mental status of your employees. If everyone knows what is being measured, and it is also followed up on, you can bring about improvement.
