Mastering the Art of Staff Absence Management

Regardless of size, location or type, absenteeism among employees is inevitable for almost all types of businesses. There are of course many good reasons why an employee is away from work. But sometimes it can go from being a small inconvenience to becoming a problem. And when absenteeism becomes too high, it can have far-reaching consequences.

Chronic absence can negatively affect productivity, work morale and the company's finances. Therefore, it is important to handle it in an efficient way. Ultimately, it is up to you as an employer to make absence management as painless as possible. An absence policy that is both fair and consistent can help you manage what could end up being a difficult situation. Having said that, here are some tips that can help you deal with absence effectively.

Design an effective policy for absence management

An absence management policy is one of the best tools you can have to make managing absences easier.

The goal of an absence management policy is to reduce absenteeism by integrating programs and tools. It is important to find a balance between giving employees the opportunity to take sick leave and days off in connection with unforeseen events and preventing them from taking too much absence.

An ideal absence management policy usually includes the following:

• What the employees should do if they cannot work. For example, who should they report to, when and how? Is a text message to the boss enough? Or must the employees log in to the holiday tracking program and submit a leave request by 9 in the morning?
• Description of how the absence is tracked and handled.
• If they have been away for a long time, what will happen when they return to work? Return calls and mini-onboarding may be necessary to help them integrate back into the team.
• How they access their quota, which contains important information about assigned PTO days, available sick days, transferable vacation days, vacation used, etc.
• What happens if they are often absent from work. When and under what circumstances should you take disciplinary action if they take too much leave?

Establish a good process for approving leave

We all have that one colleague who decides to take a vacation in the middle of a work week and leaves it up to the rest of the team to catch up.

If you have experienced this, and it has had negative consequences for your business, you know how important it is to have clear, written guidelines for leave. A concise guide to leave is essential for your own health and that of everyone else around you at work. Plus, having employees who know your company's leave rules inside out will save you a ton of trouble and time in the long run.

Therefore, ensure that the leave rules describe everything the employees need to know about leave. Ensure that the guidelines are available to the employees in all parts of the process. You can incorporate them into your employee handbook, include them in your employment letter, or even give them to new hires during induction. The possibilities are endless!

Maintain a positive atmosphere at work

And by this we don't just mean the physical premises.

Creating a positive working environment is about more than the workplace itself, and also includes the company culture and leadership. After all, a positive work environment has a major impact on employee attitudes, performance and productivity. A survey shows that 94% of managers and 88% of employees believe that a positive corporate culture plays a key role in the company's success.

In addition, creating a positive working environment can:

• Increase employee satisfaction by 33%.
• reduce long-term sickness absence
• Increase productivity, creativity and profitability.
• Reduce turnover by up to 58%.
• And increase your company's revenue by an impressive 33%.

With so many benefits, creating a positive working environment should be an important part of successful absence management. It is a good way to invest in your employees and ensure that they perform at their best.

Give employees flexibility

We all have busy lives, and a 9-5 work day isn't always the most productive work situation for everyone.

Having a flexible workplace means being willing and able to adapt to changes, especially when it comes to how and when work is to be carried out. If you let your employees manage their time and decide their own working hours, you can reduce absenteeism dramatically. Giving employees the confidence to manage their own time can make a big difference to absenteeism. It is therefore worth considering introducing this as a standard practice.

One of the ways in which employees can be flexible is, for example, to adjust their working hours. For example, they may come early, stay late or work on a day off to meet the company's needs. The employer can do the same by giving the employee the opportunity to commute or work from home as needed. Both parties will be happier, and you have nothing to lose.

Finally, you can create incentives for attendance

Movie tickets, gym memberships, gift cards, food stamps - anything you can think of can act as a good incentive to maintain attendance at work.

Such bonuses are a great way to stimulate employees to be present, without affecting productivity or leading to burnout. HR departments often introduce incentive programs that reward employees for good attendance and offer different incentives and rewards for different levels of engagement.

After all, employees with perfect or near-perfect attendance demonstrate commitment to the job and the company they work for. This example can inspire the entire workforce and raise the bar for managers concerned about how poor attendance affects their company's bottom line.

In addition to reducing absenteeism, such a policy will also make it much easier to manage absence. What is not good about it?

In conclusion, mastering staff absence management involves strategic policies, clear leave guidelines, positive workplace culture, flexibility, and thoughtful incentives. IceHrm, a trusted partner in HR solutions, offers comprehensive tools to seamlessly implement these strategies, ensuring a productive and harmonious work environment.