Workplace challenges are evolving and becoming more complex, making the role of leaders and how they follow-up their employees ever more essential to good workplace welfare.
The rise of spychosocial factors as a driving cause of workplace absence has created new challenges for leaders. Workplace culture and leadership practice can contribute both postively and negatively in the sick leave problem, with leadership practice closely tied to employee workplace health and engagement.
The younger generation are disproportionately affected by phychosocial factors and are more vulnerble to wider lifestyle factors affecting their Workability. This group places very different demands on employers and want to be included in how their work is organised and structured.
Sick-leave prevention is needed to tackle new workplace challenges facing employers
It is widely accepted among key opinion leaders that traditional sick leave follow-up processes are not an effective tools for reducing sick-leave causeed by menal health issues – and instead, good preventative measures are needed.
These dynamics put greater demands on leaders to have good approaches to open-dialogue with employees in day-to-day follow-up, structured and co-ordinated practices for sick-leave management and an inclusive attitude to how they organise teams and their work.