What Can Be Done About Employee Absenteeism?

Have you ever wondered where the employees are? I tell this story to illustrate how employee absenteeism can negatively affect customer service.

My friend visited a retail store and wanted to purchase two pillows.  In its efforts to transition to a “lean and mean” retail operation, the store had recently laid off some of its employees.  After entering the store and selecting the pillows for purchase, my friend couldn’t find anyone to wait on her. So, she ran through the aisles, flapping the two pillows and shouting, “Do I have to steal these pillows to take them home today?”  The manager suddenly appeared and profusely apologized.  Apparently, the only other employee on the schedule had called in sick, and the manager couldn’t find anyone else to come in as a replacement.

What is absenteeism?
In a business sense, absenteeism is the rate at which an employee or employees miss work.  Employees may miss full or partial days of work for various reasons—sickness, family sickness, personal issues, appointments—often, with little or no notice to the employer. 

How does employee absenteeism impact the workplace?
In today’s “lean and mean” staffing environment (maximizing services or production with fewer human resources), or in small businesses with little or no employee job overlap, employers  struggle with making arrangements to cover for employee absences.  When there are not enough trained employees to fulfill the organization’s operations requirements, such as meeting project deadlines, or attending to customer calls, it can be significantly detrimental to overall business operations, productivity and customer satisfaction. 

Employee absenteeism also affects employee morale. If absenteeism is chronic, or if someone is consistently absent and other employees have to cover for them, resentment can build.  Morale gets worse when employees have a perception that management is not doing anything to address the problem.

How can an employer handle employee absenteeism so that the business operations and customer service do not suffer? 

1. Track individual attendance: If someone is consistently absent or late (with a pattern of various excuses i.e., flat tire and the “dog ate my homework” kind of thing), confront the person immediately.  Try to find out, without asking legally impermissable questions and without making assumptions, what is causing any pattern of absences (see number 6 below). At the same time, ensure that the employee understands what the attendance expectations and policies are.
2. Track departmental and organizational attendance: Is one particular department experiencing a higher rate of absenteeism than the rest of the organization? For instance, you may see that the engineering department employees have a recent spike in absenteeism.  By tracking and isolating the department or area, you could learn that a new manager is the source of the problem.
3. Get familiar with your industry’s absenteeism rates: For instance, retailers often experience higher absenteeism rates than other industries. If your industry has an average absenteeism rate of 30 percent and yours is 50 percent, there may be something problematic within your business. You will want to figure out why this is happening at a higher average rate than your industry peers.  Employee surveys or other feedback programs help employers learn about internal problems that may be causing high rates of absenteeism.
4. Develop and communicate an attendance policy and apply it fairly and consistently: Include your attendance policy in an employee handbook, and have all employees sign an acknowledgement of having been supplied with the handbook.  Make the policy part of the new-hire packet so that new hires understand attendance expectations immediately.
5. Train supervisors and managers:  It is critical to train supervisors and managers on how to handle absences and how to enforce the policy fairly and consistently. This is important to avoid morale issues and possible claims of discriminatory treatment.
6. Consult experts when necessary: Employers need to be aware that there are various state and federal laws and regulations that may protect absences based on employee or family health issues, and should consult with their counsel regarding the same.  

In Summary:
Employee absenteeism will happen in every business, because people do get sick and/or experience other personal and family issues. The keys to controlling problematic absence patterns are:

1. Establish and communicate a clear attendance policy and train supervisors and managers to enforce it consistently.
2. Address individuals with poor attendance immediately.
3. Track attendance/absenteeism to ensure you see individual, department, or other patterns which are out of the “norm” or not within your organization’s expectations.

Have you ever wondered where the employees are? There are practical techniques for controlling problematic absence patterns.