Patrick de Goede | De Verzuimdokter

I’m Patrick de Goede, the Absence Doctor. I help organisations reduce absence by teaching managers and employees to work together, so employees take responsibility themselves and return to work sooner. As a case manager, I see how committed managers take on more and more. They call, come up with solutions and keep track of agreements. Yet the employee continues to wait. The manager pushes a little harder and becomes increasingly frustrated in the process. You want to move forward together, but it isn’t working. Why is that? And does the way you approach things help the employee take responsibility themselves? I spent fifteen years in the kitchen as a high-level pastry chef. There, I learnt what pressure does to people and how important teamwork is when a lot is asked of you. Just over eight years ago, I moved into absence management. I started out at occupational health services and still work as a case manager. That means I know the day-to-day reality: conversations where people don’t understand each other, agreements that aren’t kept and managers wondering what else they can do. Christa and I make up the Absence Doctor. I train HR professionals and managers to deal with complex and long-term absence, including at organisations such as Erasmus MC and Brunel. Together, we make the Absence Doctor Podcast and developed the Knotje Wol Method. It helps managers and employees untangle what is going on and what each person needs to work together on the return-to-work process again. On stage, I take you through situations from my work that people will recognise. An employee says, ‘I don’t know.’ A manager thinks, ‘I’ve been nice for long enough.’ Before you know it, the conversation is mainly about what the other person should do. What happens if you ask different questions at that point? If you are clear about expectations and help the employee think for themselves about what they can do? I show the influence you have on how you work together, even when a situation has been stuck for a long time. My audience leaves with insights into their own actions and practical questions for their next conversation. My motivation is simple: I want us in the Netherlands to be able to work together again, even during periods of absence.