Customer review De Arbodienst Mitsubishi De Arbodienst

For more than a decade, Mitsubishi Turbocharger and Engine Europe BV (MTEE) and De Arbodienst have worked together in the field of absenteeism and sustainable employability. And during that time, the HR team, with support from De Arbodienst , has made significant changes. Giandra Williams, HR Officer and now with MTEE for 14 years, and Danny Hariyanto, HR Advisor/ Team Leader Training & Development and with MTEE for two years, share what they envision for the organization and how they are managing to take those steps. Labor and Health Advisor Mardou de Vries is instrumental in this effort.

Giandra: "In 2008, MTEE grew strongly. After we hired so many people, absenteeism also increased. We have a bigger challenge in bringing down absenteeism. So we decided to change tack and started working with a new health and safety service provider; De Arbodienst (then Argo Advies). Thanks to the different approach, we soon saw our absenteeism rate drop. How was that possible? De Arbodienst looks beyond 'just registering'. They have a proactive approach, and are more focused on activating the absentee employee; they also let the employee look at absenteeism in a different way. Where other health and safety service providers first prescribed two weeks of rest, De Arbodienst looks at "what is possible? This means that the responsibility is not only on the employer but also steers the employee's own direction. That really gave a change of mindset within our organization."

"There is a realization that management, employees and supervisors all play an important role in absenteeism ."

Creating awareness and support on a topic like absenteeism doesn't happen overnight; it takes time. "We have shown over the years that absenteeism is an important issue. This has been a long process that we have been working on since 2010, but successfully! This has created awareness within the organization; management has put absenteeism on the agenda! We have managed to realize that both management and employees play an important role in absenteeism reduction and that we can really do something about it."

Danny: "Our thinking is that leadership is critical in dealing with absenteeism. We want our executives to understand that it's not just about the production numbers a department is running, but how the team is performing. Change starts with the supervisor, and employees also have a certain responsibility to the employer. We try to get across that you can think of the team as your own little organization, then it comes more alive. You are responsible for your people and you get a lot in return if you take that responsibility. We pay a lot of attention to this in the form of leadership and absenteeism training courses that also convey the feeling that we are doing it together. If you receive leadership training right at the start as a manager, you learn what to look out for; who are you as a manager, your behavior and the behavior of the other. We also have an absence meeting twice a week with the managers in the production departments. Here we discuss what the supervisor is up against, what stands out, and how this can be solved and improved."

Vooral de thema’s arbeidsverzuim en de duurzame inzetbaarheid van de medewerkers zijn een groot aandachtspunt bij het HR-team van MTEE. Giandra: “In de productie zie je dat het verzuim vooral door lichamelijke klachten ontstaat. Productiewerk is fysiek zwaar werk, en het wordt ook steeds zwaarder. Een groot deel van het werk is geautomatiseerd; waar ruim tien jaar geleden nog acht medewerkers op een productieonderdeel stonden, is dat nu gehalveerd. We willen natuurlijk dat onze medewerkers, ook als zij langere tijd dit zelfde werk doen, duurzaam inzetbaar blijven. Daarom is het voor ons belangrijk om ook voor de toekomst na te denken over de duurzame inzetbaarheid van onze medewerkers. We hebben daarin veel aan De Arbodienst. Het is heel prettig samenwerken met Mardou, de Adviseur Arbeid en Gezondheid. Zij voelt goed aan wanneer het moeilijk gaat worden en is er altijd op het juiste moment! Ze denkt echt mee, ze kent de doelgroep heel goed, weet precies wat er speelt en maakt verbinding met de medewerkers.”

''It is clear that leaders exert a major influence in culture change, any transformation must therefore begin with changing the mindset of existing leaders.''

Danny: "We also have a quarterly meeting with Mardou, in which she also shares market developments, among other things. It is nice that Mardou also visits other organizations, so she can share solutions to problems from other companies with us. I find it important to be able to spar well with an occupational health and safety service, and to be able to ask questions. Mardou also dares to say it when she disagrees. We switch quickly and Mardou also knows how to hook up good other experts inside and outside paraDIGMA groep. This is how we came to OffCourse, paraDIGMA groep's training center, for a Vision and Basic Communication Training. Our ambition in the coming years is to provide the executive with more tools and expand support for sustainable employability even further!"

Vooral de thema’s arbeidsverzuim en de duurzame inzetbaarheid van de medewerkers zijn een groot aandachtspunt bij het HR-team van MTEE. Giandra: “In de productie zie je dat het verzuim vooral door lichamelijke klachten ontstaat. Productiewerk is fysiek zwaar werk, en het wordt ook steeds zwaarder. Een groot deel van het werk is geautomatiseerd; waar ruim tien jaar geleden nog acht medewerkers op een productieonderdeel stonden, is dat nu gehalveerd. We willen natuurlijk dat onze medewerkers, ook als zij langere tijd dit zelfde werk doen, duurzaam inzetbaar blijven. Daarom is het voor ons belangrijk om ook voor de toekomst na te denken over de duurzame inzetbaarheid van onze medewerkers. We hebben daarin veel aan De Arbodienst. Het is heel prettig samenwerken met Mardou, de Adviseur Arbeid en Gezondheid. Zij voelt goed aan wanneer het moeilijk gaat worden en is er altijd op het juiste moment! Ze denkt echt mee, ze kent de doelgroep heel goed, weet precies wat er speelt en maakt verbinding met de medewerkers.”

''It is clear that leaders exert a major influence in culture change, any transformation must therefore begin with changing the mindset of existing leaders.''

Danny: "We also have a quarterly meeting with Mardou, in which she also shares market developments, among other things. It is nice that Mardou also visits other organizations, so she can share solutions to problems from other companies with us. I find it important to be able to spar well with an occupational health and safety service, and to be able to ask questions. Mardou also dares to say it when she disagrees. We switch quickly and Mardou also knows how to hook up good other experts inside and outside paraDIGMA groep. This is how we came to OffCourse, paraDIGMA groep's training center, for a Vision and Basic Communication Training. Our ambition in the coming years is to provide the executive with more tools and expand support for sustainable employability even further!"

Wilt u net als bij MTEE werk maken van verzuim en zoekt u een organisatie die u hier proactief bij ondersteunt? Neem dan contact op met De Arbodienst. Onze unieke aanpak is effectief en preventief.