Workplace stress and absenteeism are not merely human issues. They also affect capacity, continuity, and costs.
Centrum voor Stressmanagement helps organizations combine the right indicators and KPIs with insights into workplace dynamics. This provides a clearer picture of where risks lie, which approach is appropriate, and what effect can be expected.
More data is not automatically better. The key is to monitor the data that helps you identify trends and make timely adjustments.
Which KPIs are relevant depends on the organization and the specific question. For absenteeism prevention and sustainable employability, we look at the following indicators, among others.
Total sickness absence provides insight into how much available working time is lost due to absence. Tracking developments over a longer period makes trends more visible.
Frequent short-term absence can be a signal that additional attention is required. This is especially true when the same pattern emerges within specific teams or departments.
The average duration of absence cases helps distinguish between frequent short-term absence and longer-term sickness absence.
Absenteeism figures primarily reflect what has already occurred. Information about perceived workload and stress can help identify where pressure is beginning to mount at an earlier stage.
Prolonged pressure without sufficient recovery increases the risk of overload. Where appropriate, we therefore also assess energy levels, recovery opportunities, and the ability to unwind after exertion.
Increasing irritation, mistakes, miscommunication, or loss of focus can be important additional indicators. They provide context to the figures and help to understand where workplace pressure arises in practice.
When managers are under sustained high pressure, it often affects teams as well. It is therefore valuable to look not only at employees, but also at key roles within the organization.
There is rarely a single intervention that simply lowers sickness absence.
Improvement often results from addressing several factors simultaneously: workload is recognized earlier, priorities are clarified, managers are equipped to act more effectively, and employees are given more room for recovery.
Therefore, we do not only look at the final absenteeism rate, but also at leading indicators that may change sooner.
Even a modest change in sickness absence can make a significant financial difference for a larger organization.
With our calculation tool, you can create an indicative scenario yourself. Enter your data and see what a change in absenteeism could mean financially.
The result is a calculation model and not a forecast or guarantee. Actual costs and outcomes vary per organization.
Calculate absenteeism costs
From data to a tailored approach
A KPI shows that something is changing, but not always why.
That is why we combine data, where possible, with interviews, analysis, and insights into the working environment. This provides a more comprehensive picture of the factors contributing to stress, overload, and absenteeism.
When absenteeism is still relatively stable, but workload and stress indicators are rising, the focus is on early detection and preventing further strain.
When short-term or stress-related absence starts to increase, we examine which underlying causes may be involved and where targeted support can make the greatest difference.
When high workload has been part of the organization for an extended period, we take a broader look at leadership, collaboration, expectations, recovery, and the way work is organized.
Many organizations already possess sufficient information to form an initial assessment.
For an initial consultation, the following data is often already useful:
Where additional information is required, we determine together what is valuable to investigate further.
With an organization-focused approach, we clarify in advance what we are working on and how we monitor progress.
This provides HR, management, and other stakeholders with a clearer framework for decision-making and evaluation, without reducing people to numbers.
During an initial intake, we discuss the current situation, available data, and signals from within the organization.
Based on this, we determine what additional information is required and which approach aligns with your objectives regarding workplace stress, absenteeism prevention, and sustainable employability.
That depends on your measurement requirements. It usually involves stress and recovery indicators, workload and focus-to-noise ratio, team signals, and non-medical absenteeism risk indicators.
You can make trends and indicators visible and adjust interventions. Exact causality depends on the context, but you receive management information for prevention and assurance.
Yes. With impact measurement and effect reporting, you can remeasure and make adjustments.
You work with a baseline and multiple measurement points. This allows you to identify trends and changes and better interpret what is likely contributing, without making unrealistic claims.
Usually 3 measurement moments: baseline measurement, intermediate measurement, and final measurement. Sometimes we add a follow-up after 3-6 months.