Business Advice

How To... Reduce Absence In Your Business

01/02/10

By Eugene Farrell, chairman, U.K. Employee Assistance Professionals Association (www.eapa.org.uk)

It's National Sickie Day today! According to research Monday 1 February is the worst day of the year for absenteeism and puts pressure on organisations across the country to manage the impact of unauthorised absence.

The cost of absence to any organisation is significant and even for SMEs should not be underestimated. Latest research on absence from the CIPD (2009), for example, highlights that the average cost of absence per employee is £692 and for the UK economy as a whole represents a cost of £17.3 billion.

So, what can you do to...

...help employees resist the temptation of calling in sick? Here are some suggestions you can take on board to maximise your absence management and minimise the effect of absence on your people and the business as a whole.

1.How much of a problem is absence in your business?

Every business is different and you don't necessarily need expensive systems and the latest technology to measure the impact of unauthorised absence on your business. Firstly, make sure that you and team leaders or line managers, where relevant, are keeping accurate absence records.

Can you identify any trends within this data? For example, are there recurring work or health related issue. Is absenteeism focused on a particular team or department? Are there any individual employee trends or recurrences? Understanding the origin and extent to which absence is a problem for your business will help you design the appropriate and most effective solution for it.

2.Are employees aware of your absence policy?

This question does, of course, presume that you have an absence policy! Review the policies and procedures that you do have in place to ensure they outline the circumstances where employees are entitled to be absent from the business and the stages... continued on page two >

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