We live in a society of constant stimulation, performance pressure and always being ‘on’, while recovery, rest and meaning are given less and less space. Almost one in six employees (16%) has a stressful job, with high demands and little freedom, according to figures from the National Working Conditions Survey (NEA) by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and TNO. Stress is expected to be the most common illness by 2030. The Council for Public Health and Society observes that we live in a ‘hyper-nervous society’. Performance pressure, acceleration and individualism have gone too far and threaten our wellbeing, the advisory body warns.
Crossing the line
Organisations mainly look for quick fixes: a training course, a vitality week or a mindfulness app, De Koning observes. ‘It doesn’t work to place the solution with the individual. You can’t relax stress away. It is not an individual problem, but a collective signal that we are organising something fundamental in the wrong way: work, expectations, pace and safety.’ Without systemic change, stress-related absenteeism remains structurally high, De Koning is convinced. ‘We keep putting out fires instead of tackling the causes. We teach people to cope better with stress, and then place them right back in the exact same system that causes that stress. That’s like teaching someone to swim while making the water colder and colder.
‘STRESS IS A SIGNAL THAT WE ARE ORGANISING SOMETHING FUNDAMENTAL IN THE WRONG WAY: WORK, EXPECTATIONS, PACE AND SAFETY’
Measuring stress
Centrum voor Stressmanagement helps organisations reduce stress, cut sickness absence and enable employees to flourish again. ‘We help organisations make stress visible before it turns into absenteeism. That not only results in healthier people, but also in less drop-out and more stability. Stress is measurable – if you are willing to look at it seriously,’ De Koning explains. ‘At Centrum voor Stressmanagement, we work with proven methods and innovative tools to tackle stress and burnout at the source. We support organisations with insight, structure and direction.
Think of: • Early detection and scans with which we map stress levels quickly and concretely.
• Training & coaching, with practical programmes
for employees and managers to increase resilience and manage stress.
• Advice and guidance on building a healthy, stress-aware working culture. And perhaps most importantly: we always measure whether interventions have an effect, and adjust them where necessary. That is how we keep developing.’
Focus and resilience
De Koning: ‘I always say: chronic fatigue is not a personal weakness, but an alarm signal from our society. If people keep dropping out again and again within one organisation, it is not down to all those individuals. Then it is a systemic problem: in leadership, work structures, communication and expectations.’ Sustainable change begins with measuring stress, she emphasises. ‘At Centrum voor Stressmanagement, we work from one clear conviction: if you don’t measure stress, you don’t understand it — and if you don’t understand it, you can’t solve it sustainably either,’ she sums up the mission and vision concisely. ‘Our approach is down-to-earth, concrete and measurable. No labels, no judgement, no quick tricks. But insight, language and a clear course of action. So that people regain control over their energy and organisations learn how to structurally reduce stress, instead of repairing it afterwards.’ ‘We measure stress in people and organisations not only through questionnaires, but by combining experience, behaviour and patterns. We look at signals at the individual level (energy, recovery, concentration),
the team level (dynamics, communication, psychological safety) and the organisational level (absenteeism patterns, leadership style, decision-making).
We always work in layers:
1. we make stress patterns visible (insight);
2. we explain what stress does in the brain and body (understanding);
3. we guide behaviour, leadership and work structures (change);
4. and ensure it is embedded, so that the effect is lasting.
The result is less drop-out, more resilience and, above all: people who experience a sense of control again.
Visit www.centrumvoorstressmanagement.nl or scan the QR code.
Crossing the line
Organisations mainly look for quick fixes: a training course, a vitality week or a mindfulness app, De Koning observes. ‘It doesn’t work to place the solution with the individual. You can’t relax stress away. It is not an individual problem, but a collective signal that we are organising something fundamental in the wrong way: work, expectations, pace and safety.’ Without systemic change, stress-related absenteeism remains structurally high, De Koning is convinced. ‘We keep putting out fires instead of tackling the causes. We teach people to cope better with stress, and then place them right back in the exact same system that causes that stress. That’s like teaching someone to swim while making the water colder and colder.
‘STRESS IS A SIGNAL THAT WE ARE ORGANISING SOMETHING FUNDAMENTAL IN THE WRONG WAY: WORK, EXPECTATIONS, PACE AND SAFETY’
Measuring stress
Centrum voor Stressmanagement helps organisations reduce stress, cut sickness absence and enable employees to flourish again. ‘We help organisations make stress visible before it turns into absenteeism. That not only results in healthier people, but also in less drop-out and more stability. Stress is measurable – if you are willing to look at it seriously,’ De Koning explains. ‘At Centrum voor Stressmanagement, we work with proven methods and innovative tools to tackle stress and burnout at the source. We support organisations with insight, structure and direction.
Think of: • Early detection and scans with which we map stress levels quickly and concretely.
• Training & coaching, with practical programmes
for employees and managers to increase resilience and manage stress.
• Advice and guidance on building a healthy, stress-aware working culture. And perhaps most importantly: we always measure whether interventions have an effect, and adjust them where necessary. That is how we keep developing.’
Focus and resilience
De Koning: ‘I always say: chronic fatigue is not a personal weakness, but an alarm signal from our society. If people keep dropping out again and again within one organisation, it is not down to all those individuals. Then it is a systemic problem: in leadership, work structures, communication and expectations.’ Sustainable change begins with measuring stress, she emphasises. ‘At Centrum voor Stressmanagement, we work from one clear conviction: if you don’t measure stress, you don’t understand it — and if you don’t understand it, you can’t solve it sustainably either,’ she sums up the mission and vision concisely. ‘Our approach is down-to-earth, concrete and measurable. No labels, no judgement, no quick tricks. But insight, language and a clear course of action. So that people regain control over their energy and organisations learn how to structurally reduce stress, instead of repairing it afterwards.’ ‘We measure stress in people and organisations not only through questionnaires, but by combining experience, behaviour and patterns. We look at signals at the individual level (energy, recovery, concentration),
the team level (dynamics, communication, psychological safety) and the organisational level (absenteeism patterns, leadership style, decision-making).
We always work in layers:
1. we make stress patterns visible (insight);
2. we explain what stress does in the brain and body (understanding);
3. we guide behaviour, leadership and work structures (change);
4. and ensure it is embedded, so that the effect is lasting.
The result is less drop-out, more resilience and, above all: people who experience a sense of control again.
‘For organisations that sense stress building up, but don’t yet know exactly where things are getting stuck, we offer an independent stress scan. No quick fixes, no judgement, but insight into patterns, leadership and workload. So that drop-out does not have to be the first signal.’ Want to know more?
Visit www.centrumvoorstressmanagement.nl or scan the QR code.