More and more civil servants are struggling with psychological problems and the government does not immediately find a solution. 72 percent of government employees who drop out due to stress relapse within four years. ‘The staff shortage weighed heavily, but that concern was never taken seriously.’
“I had sworn never to become a gray and sour civil servant. Yet that is what happened.” When Iman Ben Madhkour (28) started working as a counter clerk at the NMBS in the summer of 2019, she did so with great enthusiasm. However, the conditions on the work floor turned out to be less pleasant than she had expected. The railway company was faced with a staff shortage, Ben Madhkour and her colleagues had to work at a very high pace. The computer systems were also outdated and slow, so that travelers sometimes had to wait 40 minutes before they were helped.
“Because of the long queues and canceled trains, we had to deal with aggression every day,” says Ben Madhkour. She found it increasingly difficult to be friendly to customers and a year and a half ago the lights went out. The doctor diagnosed her with a burnout.
Recipe for relapse
New figures from the supervisory body Medex prove that the high staff turnover also occurs in other segments of the civil service. In 2021, civil servants were ill on average 16.5 days a year. That is the highest figure in five years.
Medex indicates that the importance of psychological problems in the long-term absences cannot be overestimated. In 2017, 33 percent of sick civil servants referred to stress as the reason for their absence, in 2021 this will already be 40 percent. It is also striking that more than 70 percent of the civil servants who dropped out due to stress relapsed within four years of their return. “Returning to a workplace without making adjustments is a recipe for relapse,” says professor of occupational medicine Lode Godderis (KU Leuven).
That is precisely where, according to Ben Madhkour, the shoe pinches. When the railway employee returned to work following an absence of a month, she was allowed to work part-time. Only because of the rigid shift system she still had to be present for six or seven days straight. The fact that those services lasted a bit shorter was just a towel for the bleeding. Especially since the existing problems had not been resolved in the meantime.
“For example, I pointed out that the staff shortage weighed heavily on us, but that concern was never taken seriously,” says Ben Madhkour. She retired once more in November and now has no intention of returning to the railway company. After her recovery, she wants to work as a teacher, although she remains wary of mental problems. “I never felt that I was considered a worthy human being, rather something that, like a computer, is necessary to do work.”
career coaches
To prevent the loss of workers, it is important to invest in prevention. Minister of Civil Service Petra De Sutter (Groen) is therefore earmarking more money for training courses that should make managers more aware of the importance of mental well-being. In addition, there will be more prevention advisers and career coaches.
According to Katleen Van Roye (50), this is a good development. She currently specializes in career guidance as a coach, but a few years ago she was a civil servant herself and struggled with psychological problems. As a budget manager at the OCMW, she noticed that she often went beyond her own limits to help people.
“It was my job to pay bills and get clients out of debt, but I also wanted to help them emotionally,” says Van Roye. She got burned out and had to stay home for nine months. She then went on to work part-time for another year at the OCMW, but she realized that it was a finite story. Now she counsels people who are going through the same thing.
Frustrated faster
Introspection and career guidance can reduce the risk of burnout, which is certainly important in the current working climate. After all, there is an acute shortage of personnel in various sectors. Many people respond on social media that civil servants live in an easier and less uncertain situation than employees from the private sector or the self-employed, but according to Professor Godderis, the civil service has certainly undergone an evolution in recent years.
“Society expects more from government services. If those expectations are not met immediately, civil servants are more likely to become frustrated. That leads to an increase in pressure.” Moreover, digitization has pushed work in the sector in a different direction. Certainly for older civil servants it is not self-evident to deal with these new and higher expectations.
Godderis believes that it is important that employers and employees both do their bit in order to definitively reduce absenteeism due to stress. Business leaders can create meaningful jobs, grow in leadership and invest in the talents of their employees. Finally, staff members bear the responsibility for shaping their own job. “For example, you can take courses. The initiative does not have to come from the employer alone.”