At Danfoss, external specialists have been hired to handle the pressure on well-being that some employees are experiencing in a time characterized by changes and challenges. The employees can receive help with problems ranging from lifestyle, finances, children and relationships to burnout, harassment and work-life balance.
The Danfoss train charges ahead, fueled by record growth, development and change. Some colleagues may find it difficult to keep up —and the train doesn't stop.
"Growth and development are positive in themselves, but each of us may be impacted by conditions that we have difficulty coping with. Having to constantly improve may be a challenge for some people. But we cannot stop and be protected from developments. We have to learn to be part of them,” explains Ditte Haulund, HR Director at Danfoss:
"This is why we decided to find out how we could ensure that all employees took care of themselves and maintained their well-being in a time full of pressures.”
In 2016 it became clear that well-being was under pressure among the thousands of employees at the Danfoss facility in Gråsten. All personnel groups combined forces to implement a well-being campaign with an action plan that, in addition to creating more awareness about what creates well-being, also included something completely new.
External specialists from the Family Support company were called in to help employees with their personal challenges, whether they were problems on the job or personal relationships, finances, mental or physical health, children, or the balance between work life and private life.
”We have a performance culture, and we want to be good enough, not just on the job, but in all aspects of life. We also know that work life and private life depend on each other. If one of them doesn't work, the other one doesn't either. You cannot function properly in your job if you are not feeling well,” says Ditte Haulund, and adds:
”We believe that it is part of our job to be interested in ensuring the well-being of our employees and that they play a strong role in their own lives at all times. You can be absent from work due to illness, but not from your private life, and as a company we also pay a price in case of sick leave."
The news about Family Support has been disseminated to everyone at Danfoss in Gråsten, and the next step will be to conduct an online check of well-being, which will provide an overview. Nearly 300 of a total of more than 1,000 employees have done so. Of them, about 40 have accepted the offer of participating in a Family Support program.
Help with self-help
”We don't go out and tell them that we can solve their problems. But we can give them an overview of their total well-being situation and the tools to solve their problems themselves,” explains Lone Blume from Family Support.
In her experience, on the surface, many of the requests are primarily work-related—but when you go dig deeper, the problems are often rooted in private life.
The slogan is help with self-help. Due care and diligence—problems are easier to solve before they come to light. And then there are the cornerstones: voluntariness and anonymity. The employees who choose to have support are only known to Family Support.
Business case is proven
The pilot project will run for the rest of 2018, and for Family Support and Lone Blume, the need for it is clear when you look at the specific cases:
”There is no doubt that many of those who have contacted us were headed directly toward sick leave if we hadn't stopped and taken action.”
It is precisely the preventive activities that are important for us in our well-being campaign, and if you can just prevent long-term sick leave, our business case is proven, explains Ditte Haulund:
”But we have already reached our goal—and put well-being on the agenda. Our well-being increases when we take an interest in each other. Perseverance overcomes everything. The message of those who persevere is basically that we are all people and that we create our working environment together."