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| Hiring, Terminations and Retention |
| Managing Unscheduled Absenteeism: Set up the proper reward system |
Results of a survey published recently by CCH Incorporated indicate that rates for unscheduled absenteeism have climbed to their highest level in five years. CCH estimates that the annual cost of unscheduled absenteeism is about $610 per employee. Multiply that amount by the number of workers you employ, and then add in ancillary costs like lost productivity, and you’ll get some idea of the real cost for your business.
The first step in eliminating unscheduled absenteeism is taking stock of what is creating the absenteeism, and then managing the “root of the problem.” According to CCH, only about 38% of last-minute absences are due to personal illness.
More than half of the time, an employee who calls in sick is really dealing with other issues—everything from sick family members at home, to dentist appointments, to low company morale (see the illustration, “Reasons for Unscheduled Absences”).
Once you’ve determined the most common causes of absenteeism for your place of business, you can tailor a program that fits your own employees. If your current program disciplines employees for excessive absences, or provides a financial “reward” for those who don’t use any sick leave, you may have inadvertently created a program that gives people incentive to come to work sick.
“Hero workers” who punch in even when they are ill may not be doing anyone any favors. Once the illness has spread to other employees, the cost to the company compounds quickly.
If you use a reward system, be sure the reward isn’t so “lucrative” that employees would rather show up at work and sneeze all over the conference table than miss out on an end-of-the-month bonus check. One strategy might be to offer a gift certificate (in an amount modest enough that truly sick employees are willing to forego receiving it) to any employee who does not use any sick leave during the quarter.
Names of all employees receiving the gift certificate could be entered into a drawing for a larger item if additional incentive seems necessary. By using a little bit of psychology and some creativity, you’ll be able to create a program that allows sick employees the option to stay home without feeling guilty, but curbs some of the more frivolous or unnecessary absences.
In the meantime, consider using temporary staffing as an option to lost productivity costs and skyrocketing overtime, now that flu season is upon us.
Source: http://www.cch.com/Absenteeism2004/
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