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Absenteeism -- There is More to it Than Meets the
Eye
There can be more than meets the
eye when it comes to absenteeism. Team members may stay away due to
uncaring supervisors or unsatisfactory working conditions. There are a
number of ways to address the problem to improve morale and the
efficiency of the workplace.
An absence from the workplace refers to time a team member is not on the
job during scheduled working hours, except for a granted leave of
absence or holiday time.
Normally, the rate of absenteeism is calculated by dividing the number
of working days lost through absence in any given period by the total
number of available working days in that same period, as follows:
Absenteeism Rate = Number of
lost working days due to absence /(Number of team members) x (Number of
Workdays) x 100.
For Example:
a. Average number of employees in work force = 100
b. Number of available workdays during period = 20
c. Total number of available workdays (a x b) = 2,000
d. Total number lost days due to absences in the period= 93
e. Absenteeism percent: (d [divided by] c) x 100 = 4.65 percent
Since absenteeism is a major barometer of employee morale, absenteeism
above 5 percent has to be considered as very serious (across most
industries 3 percent is considered standard).
Left unchecked, high absenteeism can rapidly develop into serious
business problems including morale issues and high turnover.
Maybe even worse than absenteeism, it is obvious that people such as
malingerers and those unwilling to play their part in the workplace can
also have a decidedly negative impact.
Such team members need individual attention from frontline supervisors
and management.
Indeed, as prevention is better than cure, where such a problem occurs,
it is always important to review recruitment procedures to identify how
such individuals came to be employed in the first place.
For any business owner or manager, to cure excessive absenteeism, it is
essential to find and then eliminate the causes of discontent among team
members.
If they find their supervisor or job unpleasant - really unpleasant -
they look for legitimate excuses to stay home and find them with things
such as upset stomachs or splitting headaches.
Any effective absentee control
program has to locate the causes of discontent and modify those causes
or eliminate them entirely. In other words, if we deal with the real
reasons team members stay home it can become unnecessary for them to
stay away.
Any investigation into absenteeism needs to look at the real reasons for
it.
Sometimes team members call in sick when they really do not want to go
to work. They would not call you up and say, “I’m not coming in today
because my supervisor abuses me.”
Or, “I’m not coming in today because my chair is uncomfortable.” Or,
“I’m not coming in today because the bathrooms are so filthy, it makes
me sick to walk into them.”
There are a few essential questions to consider at the outset if you
want to make a measurable improvement to your absenteeism figures.
Why is your present absenteeism policy ineffective?
Where and when is excessive absenteeism occurring? In many cases, under-
trained supervisors could be a contributing factor.
What are the real causes for absences?
It is commonly expected that low pay, poor benefits and high workloads
will be the major causes.
However, in numerous employee surveys absenteeism generally has been
identified as a symptom of low job satisfaction, sub-standard working
conditions and consistent negative and unfair treatment received by
first-line supervisors.
How much formal training have your supervisors received on absenteeism
containment and reduction? If your answer is none or very little, maybe
you have found the solution.
As with every other element within your organization, you cannot ask a
person to do a job he or she has never been trained to do.
Many human resources specialists have found that repetitive, boring jobs
coupled with uncaring supervisors and/or physically unpleasant
workplaces are likely to lead workers to make up excuses for not coming
to work.
If your team members perceive that your company is indifferent to their
needs, they are less likely to be motivated, or even to clock on at all.
One way to determine the causes of absenteeism is to question your
supervisors about excessive absenteeism, including what causes it and
how to reduce it.
Of course, if your supervisors have made no efforts to get to know the
team members in their respective departments, they may not be able to
provide reasons.
However, just the act of questioning may get the ball rolling and signal
to your supervisors that their involvement is important.
Once a manager finds the real reasons for absenteeism there is another
important step. Through open communication, you need to change the team
member’s way of reacting and responding to discontent.
Other problems will no doubt arise in the future. If the way of
responding has not been reviewed, then the same cycle is likely to start
all over again.
So often absenteeism problems
can be sheeted back to the supervisor level and to unsatisfactory
working conditions. Without improvement in these areas, you can expect
your high rate of absenteeism to continue.
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