Ian Vallely

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Features
7 mins read

Managers often see absenteeism as something to be in endured rather than cured. It’s true that you can’t cure it, but you can manage it. And it desperately needs managing: sickness absence costs UK employers an eye-watering £14 billion a year, according to the CBI. Ian Vallely reports

Most managers prefer to say 'welcome back' rather than 'where were you?' But employees take around 131 million days off sick every year and that makes unplanned absenteeism a pressing management problem that can't simply be shrugged off.

Planned absence, where an employee takes time off for a pre-agreed reason authorised by their manager (holidays, maternity leave, jury service or a pre-booked doctors' appointment, for example), is relatively easy to manage. Unplanned absence, such as sickness or emergency leave, is not.

As manufacturers' organisation the EEF says: "One of the biggest challenges faced by employers is managing long-term sickness rates caused, in the main, by waiting times for diagnosis and treatment and, increasingly, mental ill-health and musculoskeletal disorders.

"The old adage 'healthy bodies and healthy minds = healthy workers' still applies. More enlightened employers recognise this link."

There is no simple solution, no one right answer, no single management style that delivers better attendance results, but one thing is clear – when management addresses the problem of unplanned absence, improvements flow.

So where do you start? It pays to put pound signs in front of everything, including absence. According to the EEF, the average days lost to sickness absence has been around five days per employee per year (or a rate of 2.2%) for the past four years.

Think about the wages paid, effectively for no work that this represents, not to mention the loss of productivity, impact on customer care and aggravation to others. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development says the overall median cost of absence per employee is £609.

Then there are the costs in terms of management time. A survey by time management company Kronos with the US-based Society for Human Resource Management found that supervisors spend an average of 4.2 hours a week – or 5.3 weeks a year – dealing with absence, including finding replacements, adjusting workflow and providing training.

Take account of impact on co-workers
Joyce Maroney, director of the Workforce Institute at Kronos, says: "All workers need time off for a variety of reasons – from vacation time to relax, sick time to recover and time needed to address the unexpected emergencies of life. However, the impact that absences can have on co-workers is a factor that should not be overlooked...

"Employees say inadequate staffing is the number one cause of workplace stress. By accurately tracking absences and the trickle-down effect they have on the entire business, organisations can improve productivity and minimise compliance risk while addressing issues that may increase the rates of absence to improve team cohesiveness and morale."

For Mike Toner, factory manager at Howarth Timber Windows and Doors, an informal approach to absence management works best: "We try to run it in a relaxed, family atmosphere."

However, where individuals are guilty of malingering, he will step in: "If someone has fallen below the requisite standards, we talk to them. It can be that they just don't give a damn, we have had that. They would be taken through our disciplinary process, or the capability procedure which determines whether they are capable of doing the job either mentally or physically. Every case must be treated separately."

Jane High, a director at perforated metal and plastic manufacturer Robert Bion & Company, also has experience of skivers, although they no longer work for the company: "We have had the Monday morning 'my dog's dead', or 'my cat's been run over'-type excuses, but we don't have those people here anymore. When we did, we used formal absence management so, for example, if they had three absences over six months, they would get to speak to me about it."

Shining a light on absence
By shining a light on people's behaviour in this way, you can help discourage the 'bunking off' mentality. High again: "With one person, we pointed out that their absences always seemed to be a Monday when they were on a morning shift. There was a trend. Pointing this out was all that was needed to improve their attendance."

Neil Pickering, UK marketing manager of Kronos, says the starting point for effective absence management is to collect data accurately and in real time. "You also need an absence policy and make it clear to the workforce that this is what will be enforced fairly with everybody in the organisation treated in the same way. Some time and attendance systems can incorporate absence policies. So, if people don't let supervisors know they are off sick, the company can do something about it."

He adds: "Where technology is changing is the way data is captured. We are making it easier for systems to indicate that this is not happening in accordance with what was planned. It pays companies to plan work schedules that take into account the preferences of the employees... That is what the latest systems are able to do. If you are doing what people want they are less likely to be off."

He insists the 'Big Brother' fear of using technology to manage absence is mythical: "There is no stick; it's all about the carrot – work with people and you will see the absence rate go down. But it all comes down to data. The more you have, the clearer you can see absence trends and manage the situation."

However, long-term sickness absence has increased for more than a third of manufacturers over the past two years, according to the EEF, highlighting the need for effective management action to improve attendance.

Any systematic approach to absence reduction has to acknowledge that there exists no single quick fix solution. Each organisation has to design an attendance management plan that suits its own particular circumstances. There are, however, general rules you can apply:

  • Measure: an effective absence policy starts with accurate measurement and that means keeping up-to-date records. Set up a system that alerts you to the department, shift, day of the week, or whatever, in which absence is a consistent problem. Many that do monitor absence rates rely heavily on self-certification forms to record it. Other methods include time clocks, attendance books, or computerised systems.
  • Communicate: ensure that people know that an absence monitoring system is in place and communicate throughout the company that attendance is important. Other than in exceptional circumstances, every employee should be required to phone in on the first day of their absence.
    They should talk to a manager, not just leave a message with receptionist. They should also phone in every subsequent day of absence. And every employee should be interviewed by a manager every time they return to work after an absence. The interview should make it clear what problems occurred because of the absence as well as understanding that there are often genuine reasons for an absence.
    There are several other techniques you can use to manage absence. For example, you can:
  • Examine previous attendance records when selecting and recruiting employees.
  • Publicise departments' attendance rates, perhaps via a league table of different groups. But don't identify individuals and be aware that one person's long-term absence can skew the results, possibly causing resentment towards anyone on long-term sick leave.
  • Employ flexible working systems, such as flexible working hours, term time working, job sharing, and annual hours system, or flexible annual leave entitlement.
  • Where possible, reduce the potential for stress and introduce a smoking/alcohol policy.
  • Use tools such as the Bradford Formula or Factor (http://bit.ly/1DuQJR5) to measure and manage absence. Short, frequent, and unplanned absences are more disruptive than longer absences and the Bradford Factor takes this into account the total number of spells of absence of an individual over a set period and the total number of days of absence of that individual over the same set period.

Of course, not everyone skives – there are often genuine reasons for absence and you need to strike a difficult balance between firmness (discipline) and fairness (compassion). But, by monitoring and communicating to your staff the importance of attendance at work, you will go a long way to cutting your absence rates.

Much more help on absence management can be found in a series of guides online. Here are some examples:

Dangers of presenteeism

Although most employers focus on absenteeism, according to some experts, 'presenteeism' is worse. Presenteeism (http://bit.ly/1Ar1Wok) is when people turn up for work, but are there in body only and simply do not engage with the job in hand.

The result is a 'zombie workforce' that is unproductive and ineffective, an increasing problem, according to corporate coach and athlete Adam Strong. In his new book – Move it or Lose it (http://amzn.to/1wbOQ9k) – he warns that unhealthy diets and a lack of fitness are contributing to the problem.

"Fatigue makes cowards of us all. If you are lacking in energy, stressed or physically challenged in some way, you are never going to give your best to your job. You will always be looking for the easy option. If your mind is set on how little you can get away with doing at work, you are never going to get the promotion or the long term prospects that you may well deserve."

For employers, simply looking at the disciplinary route to force people to perform better is not the answer, says Strong. He insists it is companies with 'wellness programmes' that address the work/life balance and the underlying causes of presenteeism which are reaping the benefits.

Managing absenteeism – a checklist

Absence, they say, makes the heart grow fonder. While that may be true when it comes to family and friends, it's certainly not the case in a work context. There are, however, actions you can take to minimise the impact of unplanned absences:

Recruitment

  • Past absence is a good predictor of future behaviour. Obtain at least two years' evidence of attendance/health problems.
  • Confirm evidence of sickness absence at interview. 30 days plus in the last 12 months should disqualify most applicants unless a clear recovery has occurred. Refer to doctor/nurse/occupational health service if in doubt.
  • The physical and psychological demands of the job should be clearly understood by recruiters and explained to applicants.

Trial/probationary period

  • Expose staff to all their duties; don't over protect them from the realities of their working life.
  • Attendance at work during the early months is a good predictor of later service.
  • Young people in particular need clear guidelines on the standards expected of them.
  • If absence in the first year exceeds eight days, check with medical advisers, and counsel and warn as appropriate.

During employment

  • Accept that most industries have their own pattern of absence rates. Discover yours by investigation, not by assumption.
  • Keep clear records in the workplace (date, cause, duration, which days). Display overall rates clearly and in public.
  • Identify absence trends and patterns for individuals and for the wider team.
  • Ensure that health and safety issues in the organisation are identified (eg., cuts, back problems, injuries to feet, etc) by careful reporting of accidents and near misses.
  • Include team absence statistics in team briefings.
  • Insist on absence notification coming to the supervisor in person, not messages left at the switchboard, texts, or email messages.
  • Show concern both for the individual and for the effect of their absence on the job or team when he or she phones in to report sick.