To actively work with the health of the employees is becoming increasingly important for companies. It is not only important to create an attractive workplace, but also because the company’s growth is often dependent on a healthy work force. In addition to that, new requirements are also placed on companies. Since March 31, 2016, the Swedish Work Environment Agency has expanded its regulations on work environment to also include the psychological and social aspect, not just the physical. The Swedish Work Environment Agency has identified common causes of work-related stress, and mentions, among other things, high workload, shift work and solitary work.

The company SKF works actively to increase the well-being of its employees. Through their collaboration with Linkura, they have been able to improve their work in promoting well-being and gained valuable insights into how to prevent stress in the workplace. Angelica Lindström, People Experience Manager at SKF, works to prevent work-related stress and promote well-being in the workplace. She is responsible for the health and well-being of the staff in Sweden and works with everything from health care and training to dealing with issues of abusive discrimination, alcohol and discrimination.

“We work with a holistic perspective and a large part of our work is preventive. We have a team that supports with strategic HR work, and even though we have different departments for personnel issues, we always look at how the overall picture in the area looks like,” says Angelica.

Linkura and SKF collaborate to promote workplace health

Through its collaboration with Feelgood, SKF got in touch with Linkura and was introduced to their stress and lifestyle measurement. Despite initial skepticism, SKF saw how the measurements could complement their existing work with occupational health and lifestyle tools. Angelica therefore chose to offer Linkura’s measurement to a selected group of employees as part of their planned Health, Work Environment and Lifestyle survey (HALU).

In total, approximately 100 individuals participated, divided between white-collar workers and workshop employees, who used the service for three months. The results were compiled into an insight report with anonymized data that was presented to SKF. Employees who needed support were offered coaching via Feelgood. After the first round of stress measurement on 100 people, SKF has now carried out a second round with around 100 people from two other departments. Through this collaboration, SKF strives to promote occupational health and well-being for its employees.

A valuable insight into well-being in the workplace

The collection of data provided a deeper understanding of employee stress levels at the activity level, while allowing for comparisons between the two groups that participated.

“We received a very good insight report from Linkura with several interesting conclusions. We thought, for example, that those who work as workshop employees in shifts generally sleep worse and feel worse. Instead, we saw that the civil servants we measured slept worse. Those were very good insights,” says Angelica.

Angelica also emphasizes the added value that was created by the employees themselves gaining insight into various stress factors both at work and in everyday life outside of working hours. They were able to find out which factors trigger stress and which contribute to recovery.

According to Angelica, even those who were already familiar with the subject could benefit from the insight program. Those who already had heart rate monitors and were very active could recognize many of the readings. They also gained insights into which situations give energy and which take energy away. For officials who were already aware that they were in a stressful situation, it was also a tool to change their behavior.

“Something happens when you have a measuring device on you. Then it is clear that you are more in the present and follow your mood in the app,” continues Angelica.

Insights at the individual, department and management team level

Through data-driven insights, the measurements from Linkura can function as a current situation analysis and form a solid foundation for continued work with well-being. By supplementing the Health, Work Environment and Lifestyle survey, which consists of questions about self-perceived stress with actual measurements in the form of a portable EKG, it has been possible to gain a deeper understanding and make it easier to plan resources to prevent stress.

“From certain departments we have received signals of high perceived stress. It has been difficult to manage from management. The difficulties usually lie in understanding what causes the stress and how the employees feel in certain situations. It helps when the data talks.”

For SKF, the measurements from Linkura led to changes in behavior and habits on an individual level, while at the same time forming a good basis for further development within each department. Among the workshop employees, it was mainly the preventive work around sleep that proved urgent to continue working on as part of their environmental, health and safety plan. In addition, the dialogue in teams and management groups improved after the measurement.

Linkura’s compilation has also improved processes at the management team level, where it was possible to implement the insights as part of SKF’s overall work to promote occupational health. The collaboration has strengthened the HR team, which has had to delve deeper into how the employees feel and see where reinforcement is required and which efforts are important. One example is sleep, which was not previously measured, but where the employees have now had to answer questions about their perceived sleep.

Do you want to know more about your stress level? Contact Us!

Are you and your company also interested in working more effectively with occupational health? Linkura offers digital stress measurements for companies and organizations. The measurement consists of a portable ECG that collects data on stress level, sleep quality, physical activity and self-rated stress symptoms.

The results can be followed via the Linkura app and gives the individual direct insight into which factors contribute to an increased stress level and which factors offer recovery. The insights can be used to design activities that promote increased well-being, both at the workplace and in leisure time.

Curious about how it works? Read more here or contact us at Linkura and we’ll tell you more!