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How to Manage AbsenteeismPreventing Absenteeism through Employee MotivationMotivated employees overcome obstacles to make it to work. The key to reducing employee absenteeism is to create a culture where employees want to come to work.
Many employers attempt to crack down on excessive absenteeism through tighter control. They require employees to attend a meeting with their supervisor immediately upon their return to work, they demand a note from a doctor or use some other punitive mechanism that targets the symptoms of absenteeism rather than its underlying causes. But the problem will not go away unless the root causes are removed. Indirect Costs of AbsenteeismMany employers focus only on the direct costs of absenteeism because they are measurable, such as productivity loss, benefits and wages paid out. But the indirect costs could be greater. The most significant such cost is the impact on the morale of employees who have to pick up the slack. Their productivity suffers due to the increased workload and their feeling that a colleague has an undeserved day off while they are stuck at work. They also resent the fact that management does not appear to be doing anything about it – they perceive a lack of fairness that can destroy their morale and loyalty to the employer. Causes of AbsenteeismTo understand the causes of absenteeism we need to look beneath the surface. Superficial factors such as sickness, stress, car breakdown, lack of daycare keep only those people away from work who are not very motivated to be there in the first place. It is well known that highly motivated managerial and professional workers have a lower rate of absenteeism than bored or demotivated hourly and non-professional employees. Punitive measures fail because there’s always a way around them. Employees coerced to come to work are absent in spirit. Either way, it is a lose-lose strategy to rely on punitive approaches to reduce absenteeism. Frequently absent mployees feel little commitment to the organization’s success, have little interest in their jobs and feel they can’t communicate openly with their immediate supervisor. Preventing AbsenteeismManagerial and professional employees generally have the most interesting jobs and the greatest amount of responsibility. They feel valued and committed. Their job is a career, not just a way of earning a living. Tackling this issue strategically means focusing efforts where there is the greatest likelihood of a good return on time, effort and money. The first step, therefore, is to assign employees to 3 categories – those with legitimate reasons to be absent, chronic problem employees and those most responsive to efforts to turn them around. This is not a matter of guesswork. All employees should be given an equal chance to improve their level of commitment. Being strategic means that the most responsive employees, after some initial effort, should be given more attention. Those who do not respond at all may not justify further investment. The Role of the Supervisor in Managing AbsenteeismThe second step is to train supervisors on how to build supportive, trusting relationships with employees to foster open, two-way communication. Then it is a matter of holding regular individual meetings to build trust and to gain an understanding of how employees feel about their jobs and what is important to them. Such attention alone will foster a good degree of loyalty. Finally, as far as possible, the supervisor needs to find ways to make employees feel more committed. These include giving more responsibility, adding interesting tasks, asking them for their input and praising them regularly for desirable actions. All such engagement must take place in regular individual and team meetings. Ad hoc attention too easily drifts into never. Dealing with Chronic AbsenteeismPunitive measures are unlikely to be successful with employees who persistently fail to show up for work. In any case, such measures create a negative atmosphere which can make an organizational culture seem like a prison, thus even further motivating employees to seek ways of escaping. Unless specific employees are essential or very hard to replace, there may be no alternative but to find replacements who are more interested in making a commitment.
The copyright of the article How to Manage Absenteeism in Human Resources Management is owned by Mitch McCrimmon. Permission to republish How to Manage Absenteeism in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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