Absenteeism is becoming a growing problem for companies of all sizes. Here are some reasons to explain absenteeism, and some resolutions to combat it.
Reasons
- Lack of Commitment: Employees who are not interested in the success of the company will likely be willing to miss work without a legitimate excuse. This lack of commitment to the organization and their jobs can stem from poor working conditions, which will be discussed later in the article.
- Lack of Consequences: Simply put, incentives encourage attendance and punishments discourage absence. Furthermore, employee packages that allow for a lot of time off can lead to workers abusing this.
- Poor Working Conditions: Working in an environment that is unpleasant will discourage employees from coming to work every day. Poor conditions can include a lack of breaks, an excessive workload, a stressful atmosphere or poor treatment from managers. Working in these poor conditions leads to a lack of commitment, simply because employees don’t enjoy their jobs.
- Honest Excuses: Although there is a fair bit of unexcused absence in the workplace, employees are often away from work for legitimate reasons. These can range from sickness to car trouble, or anything in between.
Resolutions
- Work-Life Balance: Striking a balance between the workplace and personal life is something that companies should allow for employees. Building “personal days” into absence packages or implementing a “flextime” system can help with this.
- Follow-ups: Conducting post-absence interviews can help managers clarify the reasons for absence, discuss ways the absence could have been avoided, and reinforce why absenteeism hurts the company (especially for employees who show a pattern of absenteeism).
- Consequences: Absenteeism can be discouraged through negative consequences (punishments), and attendance can be encouraged through positive consequences (praise, recognition, monetary bonuses, or awards such as “Employee of the Month”).
- Automation: Installing a time and attendance system to automatically track employee hours reduces illegitimate absences, and does not allow employees to get away with simply not showing up for work. An automated system can also produce fair schedules and track who is eligible for overtime, to ensure employees are happy with the hours they work, to ultimately motivate attendance.
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