Since the summer of 2010, Prof. Dr. Willem van Rhenen has been associated with the Nyenrode Center for Human Resource, Organization & Management Effectiveness. His Engagement & Productivity chair has been made possible by 365, an organization with nearly 1,500 employees. Van Rhenen is Chief Medical Officer and a board member of this organization. Here he talks about his field of research at Nyenrode.
Stress and employee absenceVan Rhenen: “My field of research is directly relevant for everyone; it involves your work and mine. My theory is that if you feel a greater sense of engagement in your work, you will be considerably more productive for your employer. The question of course is, how much more productive?”
Van Rhenen received his doctoral degree in 2008 with his dissertation “From stress to engagement”. Prior to that, he conducted research on stress management. Van Rhenen: “In 1998, a company asked me to study the effect that planned interventions would have on work-related stress and employee absence. Based on the literature that was published at that time, we knew that stress can be managed in two different ways. These were to ensure that people got exercise (for example, through sports), or by allowing them to talk about their problems. Exercise causes hormonal reactions and it helps relax them mentally. It is also important to ensure that people deal more rationally with cognitions (their thought processes). Perfectionists, for example, have to learn that they can’t do everything perfectly, that sometimes, they have to be satisfied with ‘just doing things well’”. According to Van Rhenen, both getting more exercise as well as dealing with cognitions more rationally lead to a lower absence rate.
Engagement as a factor: What kind of effect does this produce?
In 2000, one of Van Rhenen’s doctoral supervisors caused him to shift his point of view slightly. By the time you start trying to reduce stress, it is actually already too late. By this point, problems have already arisen. Wouldn’t it be more interesting to study whether or not employees would be able to take a different approach to their work at an earlier stage? Therefore, at this point he introduced the component of engagement into his research.
In 2000, one of Van Rhenen’s doctoral supervisors caused him to shift his point of view slightly. By the time you start trying to reduce stress, it is actually already too late. By this point, problems have already arisen. Wouldn’t it be more interesting to study whether or not employees would be able to take a different approach to their work at an earlier stage? Therefore, at this point he introduced the component of engagement into his research.
Van Rhenen says that American research has shown that engagement has a direct effect on elements such as absence, sales and the number of work-related accidents but that research in the Netherlands has not reached this point yet.
He says that he hopes to achieve four goals with his research:
(1) Help organizations map out how engaged their employees are.
(2) Find out why employees are, or are not, engaged.
(3) Be able to offer intervention measures that can help these companies ensure that their employees become (more) engaged again.
(4) Identify how these measures can benefit organizations, in terms of money.
(1) Help organizations map out how engaged their employees are.
(2) Find out why employees are, or are not, engaged.
(3) Be able to offer intervention measures that can help these companies ensure that their employees become (more) engaged again.
(4) Identify how these measures can benefit organizations, in terms of money.
Van Rhenen: “We have already completed the first two phases; we have also worked out the intervention measures in detail. Now we have to assess what these measures actually yield for organizations in terms of the bottom line. We will also have to expand on this with thorough research. Once we’ve done that, we will be finished.”
Models
Van Rhenen explains that a previous research model involving work and stress examined the health-impairment process. This model focused on two aspects: demands and symptoms. If someone is feeling too much pressure at work (demands), he or she will suffer from stress symptoms (such as back problems and headaches). In order to ensure that employees have fewer health issues, he or she must be given fewer job demands.
The new model that Van Rhenen now works with has added a couple of aspects to this: the elements of resources and engagement.
The arrows in the model show how employees who have many resources available to them (for example, support from co-workers or their supervisor), will be more engaged with their work. The arrow running from the lower left to the upper right indicates that if employees are able to rely more on their resources, they will have fewer health issues.
Van Rhenen explains that a previous research model involving work and stress examined the health-impairment process. This model focused on two aspects: demands and symptoms. If someone is feeling too much pressure at work (demands), he or she will suffer from stress symptoms (such as back problems and headaches). In order to ensure that employees have fewer health issues, he or she must be given fewer job demands.
The new model that Van Rhenen now works with has added a couple of aspects to this: the elements of resources and engagement.
The arrows in the model show how employees who have many resources available to them (for example, support from co-workers or their supervisor), will be more engaged with their work. The arrow running from the lower left to the upper right indicates that if employees are able to rely more on their resources, they will have fewer health issues.
Van Rhenen explains the advantages this approach has over the previous one: “If your organization has one Euro to spend to ensure that employees’ symptoms are reduced, you can apply that Euro to reduce the demands on the employee, or increase the resources. If you choose the latter, you will not only have fewer symptoms, but also more engagement. If you only focus on the demands (for example through stress management), you will only have fewer symptoms, but not more engagement. So investing in resources means killing two birds with one stone.”
There is a reciprocal relationship between resources and demands. Van Rhenen: “The resources buffer the demands. This means that a large workload should actually never be a problem. A lot of work only becomes a problem once an employee no longer experiences support by colleagues and/or the manager (resources). If this support is lacking, a lot of work becomes very taxing. And a significant quantity of work becomes a demand. This is when employees start to experience a lot of work as being stressful, and they will develop health issues.”
Resources
It is therefore crucial for organizations to be seen to endorse the resources that are important to employees. In addition to the previously mentioned support, companies need to realize that the fact that people want to develop and grow is another key factor. A third important area is autonomy and independence. These then are the three main resources that support employees.
It is therefore crucial for organizations to be seen to endorse the resources that are important to employees. In addition to the previously mentioned support, companies need to realize that the fact that people want to develop and grow is another key factor. A third important area is autonomy and independence. These then are the three main resources that support employees.
Van Rhenen, who has a background as a company medical officer, cites the example of a forest ranger. “This type of person wants to work outdoors, hear birds sing, look at trees and enjoy his or her freedom. You could put this person at a PC in an office, but, metaphorically speaking, this will be the death of him or her. The important thing is that what you do for a living fits in well with your personal world. For a forest ranger, this is autonomy, for example." He continues: “If someone is perfectly placed somewhere that is a good match for his or her personality, not only in terms of the mental and physical but also spiritual situation, then he or she will be in harmony, in balance. They will then function well at work and become productive.”
Concrete interventions for more business
There are a variety of indicators that show the relationship between work and an employee’s degree of productivity. In the United States, this relationship has already been proven through research but this is not yet the case in the Netherlands. Van Rhenen: “We now want to prove that this also applies to the situation in the Netherlands. We want to come up with very concrete intervention measures that help businesses to run better. We also want to conduct research to determine why certain interventions work better for one company than they do for another.”
There are a variety of indicators that show the relationship between work and an employee’s degree of productivity. In the United States, this relationship has already been proven through research but this is not yet the case in the Netherlands. Van Rhenen: “We now want to prove that this also applies to the situation in the Netherlands. We want to come up with very concrete intervention measures that help businesses to run better. We also want to conduct research to determine why certain interventions work better for one company than they do for another.”
Added value
Van Rhenen emphasizes the advantages of the new chair for 365 as well as for Nyenrode. “This research tool gives us the evidence we need to convince our clients that we can give their businesses added value. This model is also a good addition to Nyenrode’s offering.”
Van Rhenen emphasizes the advantages of the new chair for 365 as well as for Nyenrode. “This research tool gives us the evidence we need to convince our clients that we can give their businesses added value. This model is also a good addition to Nyenrode’s offering.”
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