Learning Goals for Employees to Reduce Absenteeism

Learning goals for employees that help to combat stress are personal points that employees can or even have to, work on to reduce stress. The goal is ultimately higher productivity, more enjoyment in work, less stress and most importantly, therefore, lower absenteeism.

Below we have developed a list that helps to formulate learning objectives. As a manager, you can use this when entering into a conversation with an employee about work stress, for example. An item has been placed under every point that helps to provide more depth.

Read also: consequences of workstress 

Develop the Assertiveness

When stimulating the personal development of an employee, one of the most important points of attention is promoting assertiveness. Are you dealing with an employee in the team who finds it difficult to form their own opinion, who prefers to avoid any conflict and will never give up? Then you are very likely dealing with a sub-assertive employee who tries with all his might to maintain good relationships with colleagues at his own expense. This type of employee will benefit greatly in the long term to learn what his own needs and interests are and how you as a manager can stand up for them.

This employee benefits from developing an assertive (er) attitude that teaches him to take others into account, while in the meantime he learns to take good care of himself. An employee needs to learn to recognize his own feelings, to give feedback to others about what their behavior does to him and finally to have the ability to say no to colleagues when necessary. Relationships are in fact able to handle much more than the employee initially thought. The self-confidence of the employee will certainly grow!

The stress that a sub assertive employee can build up in the work situation is great. Burnout is certainly lurking. That is why developing a healthy dose of assertiveness is number one of the most important personal development points for every employee.

Read also: Employee with stress

Learning to Recognize and Indicate One’s Own Boundaries

Assertiveness is the basis for being able to recognize one’s own boundaries. For every employee, it is important to discover where their own physical, emotional and mental limits lie. An employee who has heard from an early age that he should not give up too quickly, not appoint himself, but should continue, is the textbook example of an employee who would benefit from knowing his own limits. Because no matter how nice it is to have an employee with a high work ethic in the company, it is a huge pitfall for the employee himself.

You can safely say that if an employee has not learned to see his own needs and to work with his own values ​​as inner motivation, there is a danger of long-term absence. This employee will not recognize stress in himself or at least be inclined to ignore it. Ignoring stress signals ensures that the body and mind no longer relax and recover from stress. A burnout will soon be on the agenda.

An employer would do well to offer employees the opportunity to learn what their own needs are and what values ​​they consider important in their work and in their personal lives. Can they get involved in the work they do or should they be able to perform above their own or do worse work that conflicts with their own values? Perhaps an employee benefits from more autonomy or, on the contrary, from a workplace separate from the full office where he first sat. If an employee knows what he needs to be able to function properly, he will also be able to indicate better what does not suit him and to indicate his limits. In the long term, this causes less stress and more balance for the employee.

Read: Is burnout a fashion phenomenon? 

Time Management

How do I use my time effectively? That is a question for many employees. Most employees are used to dealing with things that are urgently needed. Deadlines that are coming, projects that have to be completed or problems that have to be solved. This means that urgent matters take up all your employees’ time. But the question is whether they spend their time effectively in this way. Stephen Covey, the author of the book “the seven qualities of effective leadership” that have been inspiring people for years in the field of personal effectiveness, points out that it is not about the organization of time, but about the organization of yourself.

Determine What Realy is Important

The question is whether the things that an employee thinks are urgent and should, therefore, be done immediately are really important. It often turns out that people are concerned with matters that are less important in the core of the matter. Time management means that an employee will focus more on the things that are really important. Time management is not possible without clarity about your own values ​​and your own vision of the work. If an employee knows where he wants to come from, what the importance and purpose of his work are, he will be able to prioritize his activities more easily and thereby do the important things instead of the urgent things that turn out not to be so important.

Employees will experience less stress in their work if you help them to develop effective time management. It will help them prioritize and make choices and thus provide a good overview and clarity. It will also help them increase their personal effectiveness

Increase Personal Effectiveness

Every employee is unique. Every employee has his or her own personality traits. Which is natural. At the same time, the question is to what extent do you as an employer consider the diversity in the company. Every employee is unique. Alright. But what makes this employee unique? And how can you as an employer make use of the diversity of talents and opportunities that your employees have to offer?

If an employee can further develop the things that he is good at, this will ensure greater self-confidence and thereby also increase the effectiveness of the employee. Many people are completely unaware of the qualities they have. It is good to occasionally offer your employees a coaching program in which they can discover who they are and what they need to function well.

Teach employees to take the time to ask for what they need and to explain what is important for optimal functioning and therefore to increase their effectiveness. To increase the personal effectiveness of employees, it is important that you know the preconditions under which they can perform and function optimally. And how do you find out better yourself than by occasionally talking to them and asking how things are going and what they need?

Read: internal mobility

Encourage Personal Development

Developing yourself personally is all about taking good care of yourself. It requires personal leadership, leading yourself. That is why it is a great investment in your employee if you offer them the opportunities to develop personal leadership. For example, an employee can discover where his energy sources lie in such a coaching process. What makes the employee happy and motivated? And it is also important to discover where the core qualities of the employee lie and the pitfalls associated with this. The employee who gets a good view of this grows as a personality and will also be much more comfortable when dealing with other colleagues.

He understands why he is so annoyed by some colleagues and sees what this has to do with his own personality. He also recognizes the challenges he faces. Developing yourself also means that you learn new things. If an employee discovers the best way for him to learn, you can connect to this as an employer. Do you give the opportunity to meet with another colleague first, or do you give your employee the confidence and can he immediately get to work on his new duties? Everything is aimed so that the employees in your company get what suits their needs. The more attention and space you give to personal development, the more your employees will come into their own.

Stress Management

As an employer, you want to prevent employees from being off work sick. In particular, you would have liked to prevent the long-term absence of the over-stressed employee or the employee who has been at home with burnout for almost a year now. But is that possible? An important cause of long-term sickness absence, in particular, is stress. And the more you know about stress, the more you want to do to avoid it for all employees.

Stress itself is not bad. It even briefly increases the concentration and alertness of an employee so that they can perform well. This is the result of a reaction from the autonomic nervous system that ensures that we can flee or fight when in danger. When the threatening situation is over, the body recovers and returns to rest thanks to the parasympathetic part of our nervous system. For example, the heart rate drops again.

Read about: stress prevention

Chronic Stress

But what happens now with chronic stress? The parasympathetic part of the nervous system is shut down, as it were. Even when danger no longer threatens, our body and therefore our mind remains in an alert position. This can cause emotional and physical exhaustion. But the immune system also has to endure this. It is, therefore, a necessity for every employer and employee to gain insight into the stressors that occur in the workplace. In particular, those things that cause a long-term burden must be traced.

Here, too, it is different for each employee, which in turn results in stress. Give your employees the opportunity to think about this with a professional and to provide them with insight and tools for their own stress management. All this for maintaining the mental and physical health of your employee.

Qualities And Pitfalls

Every company or business has those employees they can always count on. If you ask them for advice, they think along. They will never try to get out of their responsibility, on the contrary, they do their work very conscientiously. These are also employees who think long and hard about problems and want to list all the pros and cons before they think that a decision can be made or action can be taken. The analytical employee can sometimes go further in his analysis of a problem. Sometimes you just have to act quickly.

At the same time, there are employees who just panic about a problem and have lost all the relaxation they need to take the right steps. It is therefore advisable for every employer to let employees discover their qualities and pitfalls. What are they good at and what could they still develop? What are the patterns that have crept in over the course of life that prevent someone from effectively dealing with problems that can occur in any work situation? And do not forget the emotional barriers that often accompany certain thought patterns. They are unconsciously always present and often more persistent than expected.

Read about personal development of employees

A Workplace Without Bullying

You as an employer can have a huge influence on the atmosphere in your company. If there is one thing that can put a lot of stress on your employees every day, it is emotional insecurity as a result of harassment in the workplace. This can occur in many different ways. The basis of bullying behavior is often a lack of respect, lack of social skills or good manners. As an employer in your company, you can create an atmosphere of openness and involvement by you yourself, setting a good example and discussing how employees expect each other to be treated within the company during a work meeting.

Always set yourself a low threshold for that employee who is reluctant to tell his story when there is bullying by a colleague. Do not think this will never happen in your company, but take the stories extremely seriously. Ensure that a confidential adviser is available where employees can safely tell their story. Be clear in what you do and do not find acceptable in your company by drawing up rules of conduct. You can help your employees withstand bullying by supporting the weaker employee with assertiveness training. Increasing the resilience of the victim can take away a lot of stress for this employee if it is not too late. So as an employer, be extremely alert to small signs of behavior that points to bullying in the workplace.

Attention to Loss And Mourning

One of the biggest stressors for a person is the loss of a loved one. Where for those who are left behind everything seems to stand still, the life of the outside world just continues. There will also be employees in your company who have to deal with loss to a greater or lesser extent. This can be the loss of a loved one, but also the loss of a relationship. The number of divorces is high and you will notice that in your own team. The question now is what you can do to support this employee as an employer in order to make the stress associated with such an intense loss experience workable.

As an employer, you are of great importance for an employee. Grieving employees find support with an employer who is open to their story and listens to them. It is important to hear from the employee how he views his current duties. Is that still feasible at the moment, or do some tasks absolutely have to be done? For grieving people it is sometimes nice to be able to be busy with the work. It provides structure and distraction. But it should not cause extra stress. Talk about it together. And regularly take time for a short consultation to hear how the employee is doing in the meantime. Does this offer enough support? Is counseling needed by the social worker?

The Importance of Feeling Recognized

Make every effort so that this employee can go through his grieving process and at the same time remain in his work. Divorce also causes a grieving process. As an employer, it benefits you that an employee experiencing a divorce gets proper help. Commit yourself to this. The work is sometimes the only reason for this employee to get out of bed. That way you prevent absence and fulfill your dedication. Employees feel recognized. This prevents extra stress and helps them through this period.