Preventing Sickness Absence With Career Management Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Field Trial

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Organizational Psychology
• Human Resource Management

Background:

• Sickness absence poses significant costs to organizations and employees.
• Proactive strategies are needed to mitigate long-term employee absence.
• Career management preparedness is a potential area for intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a group intervention designed to enhance career management preparedness.
• To determine if this intervention can prevent future sickness absence among employees.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 684 employees across 17 organizations.
• Analysis of register-based sickness absence data (days and episodes) from baseline to 2-year follow-up.
• Statistical analysis using zero-inflated negative binomial models, controlling for covariates.

Main Results:

• The intervention significantly decreased the number of longer sickness absences (exceeding 2 weeks).
• No significant effects were observed on other sickness absence metrics (e.g., total days, episodes).
• The intervention proved feasible within a workplace setting.

Conclusions:

• A group intervention focused on career management preparedness can be a viable strategy.
• This approach shows potential for reducing prolonged sickness absence in organizations.
• Further research may explore optimizing interventions for broader sickness absence reduction.