At a time when everyone pays attention to costs, the issue of employee absenteeism is still undervalued. Tackling this matter effectively creates great opportunities for cost savings, improving productivity and employee engagement.

A survey conducted by Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in July 2010 found out that more than a half of employers do not monitor the cost of absence.

Can you afford to be in the above group??

This article will help you to understand how to decrease your employee absence rate by following the simple 5 and a half-step-based process

1. Improve monitoring

First, you need to assess if you have an absence problem at your workplace. Recording your employee working time and attendance rate correctly will help you in understanding the scale of the issue.

2. Measure frequency and duration

Apply a system which would allow you to have accurate, timely and easily accessible information on your employees’ absenteeism.

3. Evaluate absences

Using a mechanism such as the Bradford Factor points system will allow you to ‘score’ each employee according to the disruptiveness of their absences. This highly effective system is based on the grounds that multiple short absences are more disruptive for the business than one long absence.

4. Provide absence statistics

Enable line managers to access an accurate data which they will then be able to use when dealing with individual cases.

5. Act!

Make sure your line managers have access to necessary training to allow them to deal accurately and confidently with the absence matters. Provide support to employees with health problems and take consistent and firm action against employees who try to take advantage of organisations’ sick pay schemes.

5.5 Act by thinking outside the box! Be proactive!

Apply performance policies to act at the root of the problem. In some cases, absence rate could be reduced by clear specification of employees’ responsibilities and targets. Consider introducing attendance incentives or bonuses.

Don’t wait! Do it now! Be ahead of the game! Visit www.mitrefinch.co.uk to learn more on how to reduce employee absence rate!