September 25, 2024
Managing HR IT Consultant
September 25, 2024
I’m sure you’ve noticed it due to all the posts on social media by now: it’s Vitality Week in the Netherlands. And like many fellow enthusiasts, I am writing something on this topic. Of course, with the goal of enriching your knowledge on this wonderfully beautiful topic with all new insights you hadn’t thought of yourself yet (hm, hm). But actually, – if I am honest – I do this purely for my own sake: to work on my personal development. After all, I find active knowledge sharing somewhat uncomfortable and writing a blog for the purpose of sharing knowledge downright frightening. I am not a theoretical expert on vitality and who am I to share knowledge? However, I am an expert by experience; I have had the necessary setbacks in life. Both physically and mentally. Without a focus on my health – or vitality – I would not be where I am today. And of course, I know a bit about the theory and how to integrate vitality into your (HR) organization. I have dealt with this subject with employers often enough, either from a genuine interest or from a formal HR role. But still…
Anyhow, Vitality Week. An anniversary edition even, it’s the 10th one. Its purpose is to “make working people in the Netherlands aware of the importance of their own vitality.” Vitality consists of four dimensions:
Where the average employer ‘used to’ translate vitality 1-to-1 into the widely known sports subscription, I see around me that there is a growing awareness that vitality is greater than just your physical state of being. So, what else can you do? So-so much. To keep this blog readable and not get lost in my enthusiasm and ideas shooting from left to right, I’ll stick to these 7 tips.
In my view, this one is very obvious. And yet, no matter how logical, it is still forgotten sometimes. Make sure the vision on vitality is in line with your organization’s goals and translate this into concrete policy. Talk to your employees, find out what is important to them, and where their needs lie. There are even questionnaires available that can provide insight into the vitality of your colleagues. This, in turn, can help to further shape the policy – with depth. This can be done, for example, with a vitality budget or a menu full of possibilities.
Let your vision live within the organization. Make it an essential part of the DNA. And yes, I know there is a lot involved in this, but simply making policy so that you have it ‘on paper’ really contributes little to vitality.
Make room for the individual. Ultimately, I believe that employees themselves are responsible for their own vitality. As an employer, you can make a distinction in how you facilitate this: make sure it is customized! What contributes to my vitality does not necessarily contribute to someone else’s vitality, and that’s okay. Create space for the individual differences so that you have a large range and maximum impact with the vitality policy.
Another small – obvious – sidenote: every dimension of vitality is of course represented in your (new) policy.
Integrate vitality into the conversations you have. Get your team(s) thinking: what does vitality mean to them? What goals do they want to set for themselves and what do they need to achieve these? You could consider giving middle management specific training on this as well, e.g. on recognizing certain signals and conducting conversations focused on vitality.
Of course, make sure that this flows from your policy and that it does not become a ‘blank sheet’.
No, not nougat. Nudging. A technique that literally translates to “a nudge in the right direction.” I have more often joked that we should turn off the coffee machine on every (odd) floor. That way, people would be more likely to take the stairs or perhaps get through a day without coffee. And as you know, there is a bit of truth in every joke. Still just getting familiar with nudging? Then check out this podcast episode: ‘what is nudge theory’ (duration: 3:53).
Disclaimer: nudging is not behaviorial change per se, but it can certainly contribute to making healthier choices.
Or wait … maybe it actually works really well for you to pick up some tasks on the weekend. Good for you! But that may not be true for your colleague who receives the emails. Fortunately, there is a simple solution: with a few extra settings in Outlook, you can keep working on the weekend, but your emails will not reach your colleagues until Monday. Teamwork makes the dream work, right?
I myself have chosen to have a business phone in addition to my private one. It shuts off at times when I’m not working. Per-fect!
Introduce vitality in a fun way. Think of a peer challenge, workshop, or just a two-day squat moment in the middle of the desks with your team. I won’t mention client names, but you know who you are. You can also organize a vitality bingo, which of course includes the four dimensions I wrote about in the introduction. It doesn’t have to be all big, bigger, biggest. Keep it accessible and fun!
Tip 6: integrate vitality in the onboarding
Onboarding new colleagues often involves dwelling on the organization itself and making sure you’re quickly up-and-running with your IT resources. Why not make vitality part of the onboarding? Explaining the vision, the different schemes, not to mention the importance. Instead of a passive “explanation”: take action! Let the new colleague experience vitality and, for example, arrange a mindfulness course for the first three hectic months. Or yoga. Or whatever suits your organization and policy. Ideally during working hours of course 😉
I could not have given this tip three years ago. Back then, I didn’t know what you can do with IT. Since then, things have changed. I am an avid user of ChatGTP (no, not for this blog) and have configured it to make the (AFAS) user’s life more fun.
My conclusion after three years of working within HR IT? An HR application is never an endgoal in itself. It supports in the execution of the work that contributes to achieving the organization’s objectives. Or at least, it should be… Unfortunately, I have also seen often that an HR application does not provide that support and has become an entity in itself. I firmly believe that with the proper deployment of an HR application, you contribute to job happiness, which includes an appropriate process. After all, the often tedious, repetitive tasks can be automated, and more time is left to apply your knowledge and expertise in the organization. You add value immediately! Yet I do not hear this topic mentioned anywhere when it comes to vitality. A missed opportunity if you ask me.
Perhaps you are not an administrator of an HT-IT application and have little influence on the configuration of the package. Of course, that makes it more difficult to shape this, but not impossible. Look at what you do have influence over: when was the last time you thought about the tasks you perform and the added value of these ones? Perhaps there are other systems you do have influence on that can make work more enjoyable, for example by working smarter with Office. By applying a formula in that one Excel statement or applying a few smart rules in your Outlook.
My goal has been achieved: I have done something new! Now, of course, I also sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this blog and possibly got some ideas and inspiration. Would you like to spar further on this topic sometime? Let me know! In that case, keep in mind: I can talk for hours about this topic. 😉
