Dealing with Absence Tales and Excuses Head On In the Workplace
‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’ – well that’s clearly not
the case especially in a business environment. According to a survey
commissioned by CareerBuilder in 2013, 28% of employees in the US have called
in sick to work, even though they were perfectly healthy. It’s not just calling
in sick, but lateness, taking long breaks and skipping off early are some of
the major obstacles faced by management in attempting to manage employee attendance.
Some of most common absence excuses are:
“My alarm clock broke” “My car won’t start” “I can’t find my
car key” “I have a personal emergency” “I’m sick. (cough) (cough)”
Employees are a company’s greatest assets. Good employees
would result in good productivity, good workforce and would reflect in the
company’s growth. It is important for the management to tackle absenteeism problems
to improve their workplace environment.
Here are 5 tips for dealing with absenteeism in the office.
1. Make
Your Absenteeism Policy Clear
From day one, make the policy clear to your
employees so they know your company’s policy on attendance. Put the policy in
your employee handbook, in hard copy and also online, for example you can put
it on My Library section in TimeTec Cloud so it’s accessible to all employees
at all times. So they can’t cry “I don’t
know..” because obviously ignorance is not a bliss when it comes to company
rules and regulations.
2. Return To
Work Interviews
Your employee called in for a personal emergency leave. The next day you can call
him for a return to work interview so you could better understand his reasons
for absenteeism and find a solution if needed. For example, set a return to
work interview session by sending your employee a private message via TimeTec Cloud
and when he checks in to work, he could read the message.
3. Monitor The
Trends
Monitor attendance records and highlight the absences to the managers. It may
sound simple, but to monitor each and every one of your employees’ attendances is
hard work. This is where your attendance software comes handy. For example, in
TimeTec Cloud, the admin can set employees attendance rules and tolerance, and
generate tardiness report to view absences, lateness or short working hour for
all employees. Tardiness will be highlighted so the management can take proper
action when necessary.
4. Consider
Offering Incentives
Reward employees with good attendance level. Offer incentives or bonuses to
encourage employees to have good level of attendance and to boost their morale
to come to work. Employees always love to get extra cash for example, an extra
USD200 will be given in January if an employee has full attendance in the
previous year.
5. Let Them
Know - We Are Watching You!
If you found your employee has bad attendance records, notify him/her, show
proof of the absence record and explain the consequences for violating the company’s
absenteeism policy. Don’t just
nonchalantly let this go because a realization is the first step to
improvement.
Pay attention to office automation software if your company
hasn’t already and take a look at www.timeteccloud.com to see how attendance
control could benefit your company’s revenue and productivity in the long run.
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