It is imperative that a company have and communicate clearly policies and procedures to deal with absenteeism and tardiness; that these be in writing in an employee handbook; and that all employees are treated fairly and impartially. Preventive maintenance works here just like it does relative to vehicles. It is much easier and more economical to prevent absenteeism and tardiness than to just constantly react to them when they occur.
At the risk of belaboring the obvious, virtually every company of any size has had to deal with the problems of turnover and absenteeism.
Employee turnover tends to be higher in certain types of businesses (e. g., nursing homes; high-paced call centers) than in others, such as manufacturing, where the wages are higher in general as well.
Absenteeism (as well as tardiness) is usually tied to employee attitude problems – regardless of industry, but it is also affected by management practices. Obviously, such practices can also affect turnover.
Turnover
As old as it may sound, all good research begins by asking the right questions. Below are some that deal with employee turnover. Not a problem in your business? If not, you are fortunate.
With drastic changes in workers’ attitudes over the past couple decades or so toward work, responsibility and loyalty, along with changes in the economy, rare is the company that has not experienced an increase in problems in this area.
Pertinent questions and considerations regarding turnover include the following:
1. How do you advertise for help (i. e., what words are used; what media or means are used; what impressions are conveyed)?
a. Are you painting the right picture?
b. Is your advertising attracting the right people?
c. Do you often end up with “leftovers,” “fill-ins,” “tire kickers,” and “can’t seem to do anything else” types?
d. How do you evaluate or monitor your advertising responses (if at all)?
2. How do you interview applicants?
a. Do you have a good interviewer (and one who is evaluated regularly)?
b. Are you asking the right questions on paper and in person?
c. How well do you communicate the realities of the job and your expectations of the employees?
3. How adequate are your training programs for new and current employees?
a. How (and how often) do you measure the effectiveness of your training?
b. When is the last time that you conducted a thorough evaluation of your training program?
c. Does your training include motivation elements?
4. Supervision:
a. How do you select supervisors?
b. How do you evaluate their effectiveness?
c. Do you have regular supervisory training sessions?
5. How do your employees rate the quality of the work environment (all aspects, not just the physical facilities and comforts or the lack of them)?
6. Is your compensation package attractive enough to retain good employees?
7. What special incentives (if any) do you provide to encourage not only superior performance, but the retention of good employees?
8. Do all or most of the employees believe that they are being treated fairly?
Aside from the state of the economy, the above are just a sampling of some considerations that can have an impact on employee turnover and a subsequent impact on productivity and profits.
How much does employee turnover cost you each year? Do you “automatically” assume an “acceptable” or industry-wide average rate of turnover that you believe that you “have to live with?” If so, why? Do you conduct exit interviews to help determine the reasons for employee turnover?
Absenteeism
According to the April, 2000 issue of ENTRPRENEUR magazine (page 24), unscheduled employee absences cost employers an average of over $600 per employee each year.
Plug in the number of employees in your company and see what the impact is on your bottom line. If you are selling cars, how many more have to be sold at what profit margin to cover this? Whether it is cars or something else, how much will prices have to be increased (and at the risk of losing customers) or how much will sales have to increase to make up for this? (This assumes, of course, that nothing is being done on the front end to deal with absenteeism, which may not be the case.)
What are some possible reasons for absenteeism? You’ve probably “heard ‘em all,” as the saying goes. However, if you are a manager or company owner, you probably have enough experience to know that employees do not always tell you the REAL reasons for leaving or being absent (and you can add tardiness to this as well).
Possible reasons for absenteeism can include the following:
(1) inadequate orientation and training to properly convey company expectations and requirements of employees;
(2) hiring people who have poor attitudes, which also implies inadequate interviewing and reference-checking;
(3) personal legal problems of employees(compounded by an inability to afford good legal help);
(4) financial problems, such as poor money management; excessive debt-to-income ratios; alimony or child support burdens; back tax obligations; special family or personal medical problems and expenses; and other needs;
(5) marital problems, which are often tied to financial problems;
(6) unmanageable stress caused by numbers 3., 4. and/or 5;
(7) personal beliefs in being “entitled” to time off(with no particular reason being of consequence); and the
(8) failure by management to treat all employees fairly with regard to time off for special needs, with the result that other employees decide that they also “deserve” the same breaks and end up taking unnecessary time off.
Admittedly, it is impossible to anticipate all of the possible situations in advance, but a clear expression of expectations by management and a consistent enforcement of the same can help to reduce absenteeism.
Turnover and Absenteeism: Creeping Effects….
Turnover and absenteeism have direct, apparent costs, but also have what might be labeled “creeping effects” that just seem to move virtually unnoticed across the work place.
How? When employees leave (turnover) or don’t show up when scheduled (absenteeism and possibly tardiness), additional burdens are imposed upon the remaining personnel. This can increase their stress levels, affect their performance and customer relations negatively and eventually result in more turnover and absenteeism among the normally loyal and faithful employees.
If the above happens, the company’s bottom line will take an even bigger hit, since the best employees are now becoming a part of the turnover, absenteeism and tardiness picture. Eventually, there may be no one left who has the time or training to make up for their absences.
Moreover, if the employees believe that management is inconsistent in how it deals with absenteeism (such as in demonstrating favoritism), employee morale will go down.
Dissension and tension among employees will increase and tension will increase between management and subordinates. Inevitably, the bottom line will suffer even more.
Conclusion
It is imperative that a company have and communicate clearly policies and procedures to deal with absenteeism and tardiness; that these be in writing in an employee handbook; and that all employees are treated fairly and impartially. Preventive maintenance works here just like it does relative to vehicles. It is much easier and more economical to prevent absenteeism and tardiness than to just constantly react to them when they occur.
Questions: Does your company have an up-to-date employee handbook? Have all the employees read it and signed it to show their agreement with it? Are policies and procedures implemented and enforced consistently?
If the reasons for turnover, absenteeism, tardiness or other problems are not immediately apparent, a good way to approach this is to conduct an employee attitude survey by an independent firm. In-house surveys are more likely to be biased and to be suspect by the employees, which may affect the honesty of their responses.
This is particularly true if the employees haven’t seen any changes in anything since the time of the previous survey (if any). Companies that use in-house surveys should occasionally compare the results to those found by surveys conducted by independent firms in order to validate their own surveys.
The results of the survey can be used as the basis for determining problem areas, some of which may not be apparent to management. They can also be used to determine the seriousness of problems and for planning ways and steps to deal with problems and potential problems.
