Employee absenteeism is an issue that almost any business owner struggles with. From stomach bugs to migraines, employees are allowed to take sick leave for a certain number of days in a year at the expense of the business. Unfortunately, when an employee is sick, their workload for that day falls to another, potentially halting production for that day. So, how do you effectively reduce employee absenteeism?
In this article, you will find a few tips on how to stop excessive absenteeism and limit the interruption to your company's productivity.
What are the most common causes of absenteeism in the workplace?
People are absent from work for a number of reasons, some of which are often out of their control. Before we can get into how to limit absenteeism, we first need to understand why most people are absent. Here are some of the main reasons:
Staff get sick
Ill health is one of the top causes of absenteeism, and, unfortunately it's not something that can be prevented every time. Whether it be the common cold or a chronic condition, illness can creep up on even the healthiest of people and the result is usually unscheduled absences from work.
They need to take care of a child or a loved one
Often, employees with kids will need to take compassionate leave to look after their children. Kids get sick often, especially if they’re going to a mainstream school. This is because they’re around so many other kids that the chances of them catching something are significantly increased.
Another reason for employee absences is because they need to look after the elderly. Many adults are responsible for their parents in their old age. They might have to leave to look after them every now and then.
Staff get injured
Even with preventative protocol, it's possible for employees to be injured on the job. Or they could be injured in circumstances outside of work. When an employee is injured, depending on the severity, they may need to take a considerable amount of leave. Whether it be a ligament sprain or a broken bone, they would need to remain at home until they’re deemed fit to work again.
How can you reduce absenteeism?
You might not be able to stop people from getting sick or injured, but you can implement methods to help you avoid excessive absenteeism. Generally, this is done by encouraging your employees to lead a healthier lifestyle and helping them to do it. Here is how you can reduce absenteeism:
Let them know your attendance expectations
Legally, employees have a certain number of allocated sick days throughout the year. In Australia, this is 10 days for full-time employees. We’d suggest stating a clear attendance policy in an employee handbook that clearly distinguishes all the expectations for how many days employees can take sick leave in comparison to their attendance. Also, explain what would happen if they were sick outside of their allocated days.
Give them an incentive to have good attendance.
You could offer your employees a reward for not using their sick days and maintaining a good attendance record. For instance, you could extend the leave for every sick day they don’t use or even pay them out for those days at the end of the year. However, try to avoid penalising other employees for practising their right to sick leave.
Promote a healthy work environment
People often get sick when they’re working in a stressful work environment. So, from your side, you can try to create a stress-free and healthy work environment for your staff. There are a few ways you can do this. On the one hand, you can place importance on your employees, ensuring that they see their value and feel it as well. Likewise, you can implement health and wellness programs to aid in keeping the work environment healthy. Having a good HR department is also helpful in resolving employee disputes and giving the staff someone to talk to when needed.
Promote teamwork
Businesses need to run like well-oiled machines to achieve their goals. Often, this relies on how well the employees work together. Promoting teamwork means encouraging employee engagement on a regular basis. They need to be able to communicate clearly and effectively with one another without taking offence or getting distracted. This takes practice. This is where teamwork training comes in.
Take your staff on a team-building exercise and make it fun. Here, they’ll build deeper relationships that have the potential to benefit their work and help develop the skills needed to work together effectively.
Give them health benefits
Offering your staff workplace wellness programs can be an effective method of keeping them free from injury or illnesses. There are many ways you can do this. For example, you could provide them with health screenings, rewards for good screening results, gym memberships, weight loss programs, or any health incentives that encourage them to maintain a healthy lifestyle. You could even include mental health services in the package to care for staff who struggle with stress at work to promote employee health.
Give them time off
In addition to sick leave, employees also have a set number of leave days that are given to them per year. Encourage your staff to use their time off well. Everyone needs time to relax and recuperate. By encouraging your staff to take time off, you’re helping them balance their work and social life, which will help them avoid burnout and ensure that you’re getting employees who are able to give their 100% when they’re at work.
Be flexible and understanding
Accidents happen, and emergencies flare up out of nowhere which results in unplanned absences. It’s life. If there’s an emergency and one of your employees has to rush off, be flexible and understanding. Put yourself in the same position.
By letting them sort out their issue, you’ll find that extending this flexibility will improve their respect for you, resulting in them putting in more effort for you later on. Likewise, you can consider implementing flexible working arrangements, which entails your staff can work on their own schedule as long as their key performance indicators are met. Once they’ve met the amount of work needed for the day, the rest of it is there to do what they want.
Don’t overwork your employees
When reducing employee absenteeism, you need to consider whether your staff are being given reasonable goals and workloads. When staff are overworked and stressed out, this could potentially lead to burnout. Staff that are burnt out work at half their normal capacity and are also more likely to get sick. But, by giving them achievable goals and a manageable workload, you can trust that they’ll be able to meet their goals daily and still have energy to spare.
Promote trust, transparency, and clear communication
Nothing stirs up anxiety in employees more than employers hiding things from them, especially when the company is struggling. Clear communication should be a goal in your business. This stems from the top down. Be sure to communicate expectations and anything related to projects clearly and effectively so your employees know what they need to do.
Be transparent about where the business is. When you achieve a goal, share it with your employees so you can celebrate together. Likewise, when things are tough, let them know, too, so the business can collectively strive for a solution. This doesn’t mean you need to place the burden fully on them; you’re simply including them.
Train your leaders
As we said above, good communication and transparency start at the top. Train your managers to communicate effectively with their teams. Give them the skills they need to manage their teams effectively, promote employee satisfaction and ensure the company's health and wellness protocols are followed. By doing this, you can ensure that every employee is accounted for.
By delegating this kind of responsibility to others on your staff, you can invest your time into other avenues that will grow the business while having the assurance that your employees are in good hands.
Ask your employees for feedback
Employee feedback is invaluable. Many organisations and famous brands are built on the innovations made from customer feedback. The same applies to your business. If you experience a high level of absenteeism in the workplace, it's worth checking out why. Encourage employees to provide feedback. These conversations can lead to valuable insights that can improve employee attendance.
You might learn that they feel they’re being overworked or experiencing workplace bullying, or maybe they’re going through a tough situation at home. Whatever it is, feedback will allow you to create a better working environment for your employees.
Final Thoughts
Eliminating workplace absenteeism from your business is somewhat of a pipe dream, but it is possible to create an environment that prioritises the health and wellness of the staff in an attempt to reduce absences. Consider implementing health incentives, minimising stressful situations in the working environment, or taking a more active approach to caring for your staff’s mental and physical health.
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