How to deal with absenteeism?

The work absenteeism It is a problem to be considered by any company, since it generates organizational problems and costs that affect the operation and deterioration of the productivity.

That is why it is important to develop and plan tactics that monitor what originates it, implementing actions that allow to minimize the absences of the employees to their positions of job.

The companies in search of this have implemented a certain technique of reward and sanction, which in some way teaches who is missing and, on the other hand, stimulates those workers who regularly comply with their assistance and obligations. In addition, he has experimented with flexibilization of working hours with a view to reducing the reasons for employees to miss work.

What is work absenteeism?

It can be defined as any absence of an individual from his job, within the hours that correspond to the legal working day and day, are justified or not.

Absenteeism is caused by multiple factors that weigh on the worker such as expectations, concerns, values, needs, skills, knowledge, feelings, etc. That they interact with labor aspects related to the working conditions and environment and also with extra-labor factors, explicit by the social environment where the company operates.

Absenteeism represents an expense for the organization, in the sense that when the worker is absent, you are not doing the work assigned to your position, even when the company is paying for it. So companies deal with this absence in multiple ways, sometimes another worker could do this job, however, it is something difficult to measure and maintain.

Forms of absenteeism according to its causes

Justified and predictable:

It occurs in those cases where the employee previously notifies the company of her absence. For example, in the event of an illness, scheduled medical intervention, work accident with disability leave, paid legal leave or leave for personal matters that are not paid.

Without justification and not foreseeable:

It occurs in those cases where the worker leaves his position without having previously notified, without having the authorization to do so. Even being due to sudden illness, personal problems or accident.

Virtual:

Is he absenteeism that occurs in those cases when the worker goes to the workplace, but uses his time to carry out tasks outside or different from his work activity.

Cause of absenteeism

When talking about absenteeism from work, justified and unjustified causes can be found, among these are:

Good causes:

• Accidents and / or illnesses, such as arthritis, diabetes, low back pain.
• Family reasons, forceful motivations that prolong involuntary absences, death of a relative, marital separation, illness of a child or close relative.

Unjustified causes

• Work stress due to work surcharge.
• Leisure.

Other causes of work absenteeism are those motivated by the company, by the use of policies that promote the abstentionism of its workers and lead them to not attend their job.

These causes that influence and affect the worker are:

• Little supervision of the management or direction of the company.
• Too demanding in terms of task specialization assigned.
• Lack of work incentive and motivation.
• Failure in worker satisfaction.
• Poor working conditions, including poor pay and an unfavorable environment.
• Bad adaptation of the worker in his position within the company.
• Deterioration of organizational climate.
• Implementation of inappropriate policies for the treatment of workers, staff rotation policy, abuse of authority, etc.
• Existence of occupational hazards that could cause accidents.
• Difficulties in getting to the point of work and return home.

How to reduce absenteeism from work?

Examine the causes of absenteeism:

There are different circumstances that cause employees to miss work more than usual, it is It is necessary to know the causes correctly before implementing any system or method to reduce this.

It could be that they are absent due to illness, then in response to this the company can implement health days, contracting medical insurance or another solution that is feasible to solve the trouble.

However, depending on the reason, the company must find different ways to fix it.

Flexibility of working hours:

It is a fairly effective measure, it allows the employee to better adapt to the program of his lifestyle by doing less frequently to work.

Establish an unsubscribe communication process:

The fact of having to formally communicate non-attendance at work makes it more difficult for employees absent without justification, as they must inform their superiors that day they will not go and the reason for it.

Set performance bonuses:

Taking into account the causes of absenteeism, including those invented by the employee, the company must try to understand that something motivates the employee to want to miss, and to counteract that, the ideal is to look for something that motivates him with greater force to attend and comply with his job.

Reconcile:

Every human being has the right to a balanced life, there are cases in which the company must consider some flexibility, either in schedules, tasks and responsibilities. In such a way that there is satisfaction on the part of the worker and the boss with the mutual performance.