Police Zone Limburg Capital
In 2016, the Limburg-Capital Region police zone launched a risk assessment on psychosocial aspects with IDEWE’s help. The assessment revealed a number of challenges, including in terms of resilience. Internal prevention advisor Bart Motmans and his HR colleague Anke Paesmans worked with IDEWE to develop a broad attendance and reintegration policy, using a social-medical team and Employee Assistance Programme (see boxes) as important tools. Years later, the police zone is starting to reap the rewards: “What started out as a project to get staff on long-term sick leave back to work faster and better has evolved into a preventive tool that lowers absence rates.”
This case is the conclusion of a four-part file on sickness absence and reintegration in which we also answered questions from clients and advocated for the contribution of working to aid recovery and for a good internal communication policy.
“We’re seeing a huge improvement in terms of overall absence rates and the outcomes of our reintegration processes," says Bart Motmans. “As an example, almost exclusively informal processes are ongoing in our organisation, and it’s very rare that a situation forces us to launch a formal reintegration process. This is mainly down to the fact that we’ve helped people understand how important this subject is to everyone in the organisation and that you don’t always have to stay at home until you’re fully recovered. It goes without saying that an officer suffering from a broken wrist cannot carry out all their normal tasks. However, by making the relevant adjustments in terms of work content and/or system, it can be useful for the group and they can encourage their own recovery at the same time. We’ve made a really positive change throughout the organisation in how we think about reintegration.”
Lower threshold
The change has also significantly reduced the threshold for employees to contact an internal confidential counsellor. “Different people assume this role of trust with us," explains Anke. “Internally, for example, we have Bart, myself or the head of department, and externally we have Liesbeth Broens and Marthe Verjans, our IDEWE occupational doctor and prevention advisor on psychosocial aspects, respectively. That’s something you can achieve with a structural attendance policy and good internal communication, too.”
Tool 1: Social-medical team (SMT)
As part of its new attendance policy, the police zone set up the social-medical team (SMT). The team consists of internal staff (in addition to Bart and Anke, the chief constable and the care quality officer are also involved) and IDEWE’s external occupational doctor and prevention advisor on psychosocial aspects (PAPS). They meet each month to review the numbers and the files of colleagues who are on long-term sick leave or in need of reintegration. Bart: “We also talk about employees whose managers pick up on signs that may indicate that they’re not doing well. They also try to assess which short-term absences could result in longer-term ones. And if we see that several people are off sick in a particular department, we discuss how we can tackle the issue together. We do all this with the aim of examining how we can support employees on an individual basis and the organisation as a whole. It goes without saying that all SMT members treat any subjects discussed as strictly confidential.”
Key role for the external service for prevention and protection at work
Developing a good attendance and prevention policy requires a whole host of expertise and knowledge of the organisation and the challenges it faces. That’s why the police zone brought its external prevention service on board very early on. Anke: “IDEWE has established itself throughout the process as a real partner whom we can always consult when needed. This allows us to have a very open dialogue with their occupational nurse and occupational doctor. They also know our field, and this is essential because a police force differs fundamentally from a private organisation in terms of statutes, challenges and opportunities, for example.”
IDEWE has always strived for an optimal combination of employee wellbeing and consultation with the employer.
Bart confirms: “I dare say that we would never have achieved such change without IDEWE. What I particularly liked about IDEWE is that they always strive for an optimal combination of employee wellbeing and consultation with the employer. It is a tricky balance that requires you to make sure you don’t set the wrong precedent for the future when it comes to individual reintegration processes.”
Tool 2: Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
The EAP is a programme that provides financial support to active employees who need the help of a coach or therapist. This allows the police zone to try to prevent absence as far as possible, and it all starts with a meeting with the prevention advisor. Bart: “I hear about professional issues such as work pressure and problems with management, but people also talk to me about personal issues. Anyone can then call on the help of IDEWE’s prevention advisor on psychosocial aspects where needed. The first five sessions are at the employer’s expense, and with complete anonymity and confidentiality.”
Bart and Anke realise that the work never stops, and that a complete cultural shift on this subject will still take time. “Changing a culture is a long-term process, so we’ll continue to work at it. That’s why we’re planning leadership paths, for example, in which our officers and department heads learn how to better deal with difficult situations in a team. That said, we’re very pleased with the progress we’ve made in recent years. Our managers already take a far more proactive approach with their own staff than before, which works much better than when I have to follow up everything centrally as a prevention advisor. What started out as a project to get staff on long-term sick leave back to work faster and better has evolved into a preventive tool that lowers absence rates.”
• Is your organisation facing challenges related to absence and reintegration, too?
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