Work ability management is about caring

Many find “work ability management” a difficult term. Once you have gotten used to people management, should you now move on to managing work ability? Once you realise that you are still managing people, the term no longer feels so complicated any more. Work ability management has direct impacts on employees’ well-being and productivity and the success of an organisation. This is why the theme of this Telma issue is extremely important.

The management of people’s – in this case, the personnel’s – work ability is based on proactive decision-making. Work and the working environment must be designed so that the overburdening of the personnel can be avoided. Failed work ability management often results in rehabilitation or even disability pension. However, in this context you should also keep in mind that good work ability management also includes support for reduced work ability.

Fortunately, at many workplaces, flexible working hours and remote work opportunities make it easier to find the optimal solution.

Supervisors play a crucial role in work ability management. In addition to looking after the physical working environment, they must be able to identify each individual’s skills, strengths and development areas and provide them with any required support. In fact, work ability management is about caring and, almost without exception, employees consider it a positive phenomenon at the workplace.

In my opinion, the most challenging aspect of work ability management is constant change. An individual’s work ability varies during their working life for many different reasons. The reasons are often related also to factors outside work. Indeed, supervisors must constantly make decisions related to maintaining an individual’s work ability in a very tangled thicket of cause and effect. Fortunately, at many workplaces, flexible working hours and remote work opportunities make it easier to find the optimal solution.

I hope you find this Telma issue useful and I wish you have a safe autumn!