Reducing absenteeism: Diest uses Mensura approach to make an impact

Many City of Diest departments were struggling with excessive absenteeism rates in 2023. On the one hand, there was a lot of absenteeism in local administrations. On the other hand, taking accumulated sick days in the run-up to retirement weighed heavily on the long-term absenteeism figures. “There was a culture that encouraged absenteeism,” Mensura absenteeism expert Nathalie Vanaenrode sums up the situation.

After a few scattered initiatives, the Human Resources Department wrote a tender for an absenteeism policy. Mensura emerged as the winner to establish that approach and roll it out across the organisation. Riet Bulckens: “Mensura’s data-driven approach won us over. Absenteeism had to be reduced and we wanted to involve the various services in this. Fighting absenteeism is not a matter for HR alone.”

Mensura developed a project plan. This was implemented in consultation with the Human Resources Department, management and department heads within the various departments of the City of Diest. And it was successful because after one year, all absenteeism indicators have already improved.

Riet tells us that there were a number of issues underlying the high absenteeism rates at the City of Diest. “There was no uniformity in the procedures for reporting an illness, follow-up on an absenteeism, arrangements around returning to work, and so on. Each department head tackled this in their own way. As a result, the absenteeism threshold had become very low over the years.”

“Furthermore, the high diversity of profiles – from landscaping service to childcare to IT department – makes it complex to organise a single policy. On top of this comes strict legislation for local administrations. Progressive work resumption, internal mobility across departments, or job crafting are more difficult than in a private company. At the same time, it is difficult to compete with a scheme that allows statutory officials to take their accumulated sick days at the end of the career.”

The first step in Mensura’s approach was to survey managers and heads of department about their experience with existing actions on absenteeism, well-being, and reintegration. And what their expectations were of the path they would take. Did they have any tips, perhaps?

Next, the absentee expert delved into the numbers. Nathalie: “Sector benchmarks do not exist for local administrations, but compared to the Belgian average, the City of Diest scored very high – both for short-term and long-term absenteeism, and in terms of absenteeism frequency.”

“Those figures set off alarm bells, especially when we added the price tag to it,” she continues. “With the numbers in hand, we also immediately determined where we wanted to land with our trajectory. We set realistic targets for absenteeism rates, absenteeism frequency, and zero absenteeism.”

Besides Mensura’s absenteeism expertise, the external view of the situation was especially important for the City of Diest. Riet: “Mensura succeeded in making the gravity and urgency of the situation clear to the department heads and management. The absenteeism threshold had to be higher and the return threshold lowered. As a human resources department, you cannot do it alone; everyone has to pitch in.”

During the so-called commitment sessions, Mensura sat at the table with the various department heads. Jo: “Reducing absenteeism and getting employees back to work faster isn’t rocket science. However, we did realise during the sessions that it requires continuous attention from the managers.”

“Mensura’s roadmap gave us the guidance we needed to follow up on our absenteeism in a structured way,” continues Jo. “Just think about keeping in touch with long-term absentees, having an absenteeism meeting with frequent absentees, and so on. Training on how to have such conversations was also included because it’s often a delicate balance.”

They now work with set procedures, even in the Human Resources Department. Letters are sent, meetings organised, visits from company doctors… Riet: “At the start, the strict measures caused a serious commotion in the organisation. But because of the regularity and predictability of the actions, employees started thinking about their return to the workplace even during their sick leave.”

Nathalie: “That culture change takes time; that’s normal. But you do feel that all sorts of things are moving. The new approach to absenteeism is gradually beginning to take hold: there are more and more ambassadors who set a good example themselves and absenteeism is already much more of a shared responsibility than, say, a year ago.”

Meanwhile, the results also speak volumes. Riet: “We have managed to make progress on all absenteeism parameters in less than a year. Indeed, we achieved the targets we had set for the absenteeism rates, absenteeism frequency, and zero absenteeism in a shorter time. The fact that we’re already achieving results this quickly gives us a boost to continue at this pace.”