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How to Reduce Unscheduled Absenteeism
By Ellen Thompson
Sep 21, 2006, 17:42
I am at Starbucks often enough that my $1.80 coffee purchases add up to over $50 per month. I think of it as cheap rent. I buy a regular coffee, plug in my laptop and access the Internet through the T-Mobile Wi-Fi network. The combination of caffeine, music and white noise puts me in the “zone,” and has proven to be a perfect breeding ground for many of my ideas. This article dealing with reducing employee absenteeism is one of them.
If you have been to Starbucks, undoubtedly you’ve noticed the seasonal posters it uses to advertise its products. One of their latest ads attempts to entice you by combining the guilty pleasures of their Sumatra blend coffee with employee misconduct. The headline reads:
Sumatra….Pairs with “Sick Day”
and shows a happy couple paddling around in a canoe, presumably while their bosses are hard at work.
According to a 2005 survey by CCH, a business information and research company, 65% of unscheduled absences are caused by something other than personal illness. While not everyone is rowing downstream on his day off, the cost of unscheduled absenteeism adds up and sets back small business owners hundreds of dollar per employee per year.
The causes of unscheduled absences fall into three categories: personal and family matters, a sense of “entitlement” and stress relief.
Your employees are going to have personal lives, and it’s unrealistic to expect them to feel as strong a commitment to the business as you do. While it’s impossible to eliminate the problem, modest changes in your policies and approach can substantially reduce the number of unscheduled absences suffered by your business.
1. Create vacation and personal time policies that acknowledge the need for work/life balance. Whether you like it or not, your employees are going to go out of the office when they are expecting a furniture delivery or a cable hook up. If your employees can take partial days off, or work late to make up missed time, they will be more likely to schedule the absence.
2. Keep your employees engaged in their work. Employees who have passion for their jobs are less likely to feel entitled to unscheduled absences. Employees who care about their jobs are also less likely to leave and more likely to give great customer service. Providing a respectful, supportive culture at work is an essential first step towards building employee engagement and commitment.
3. Don’t add unnecessarily to the stress level of your employees. Modern life is stressful enough. Don’t add to it by perpetually overworking your staff or creating unrealistic expectations.
As long as there are medical emergencies and snow days, unscheduled absences will always be a small business challenge. However, you can reduce your costs by hundreds of dollars per employee per year by implementing these simple changes.
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