Maximizing attendance management for everyone's benefit
In addition to COVID exhaustion, re-opening of personal service and return to work hesitancy, we can now add Spring Fever and Summer Retreats to the growing list of attendance related concerns.
These types of absences are often the ones that are top of mind because they seem to be out of an employers control- but they aren't. As well, regular attendance issues are not outside of an employer' s control either.
Attendance management is also not just about dealing with excessive absences, it also includes having a system to manage tardiness, theft of time, and tracking/managing approved time off.
Both employers and employees have a responsibility to approach attendance issues with a level of "reasonableness" that takes into account entitlements, current operational requirements and mitigating factors.
The best way to ensure that you are managing absenteeism issues appropriately is to start with having an Attendance Management System. This system includes ensuring that you have polices and procedures that are current and are complied with ( as well as being legislatively compliant) , a method for tracking and requesting absences as well as entitlements and a clear way of handling excessive and unapproved absence.
Here are a few attendance items to watch for:
Can the vacation request be granted based on operational requirements?
Has the employee created a plan to ensure their full entitlement is used within the required period?
Is the reason for an ad-hoc absence reasonable and necessary, and can the reason for the absence be supported with related documentation?
Are there clear patterns or trends to an employee's absences, including reasons, days of the week or certain shifts?
Are there things that the dealership can do to assist an employee in reducing their absences?
Are there trends regarding early departures, late arrivals and extended breaks?
These are only some of the situations where you may want to consider reviewing your attendance management program and creating some follow up action.
Remember, attendance management is not just about "disciplining" a frequently absent employee. It is about managing and mitigating staff shortages (especially during times where recruitment and retention are already challenging) . Communicating and working with employees to ensure that their potential challenges and needs are met, as well as explaining the consequences of them being away, can go along way to reducing the cost of poor attendance.
Although this type of approach can seem to take up managerial time, it is certainly a investment to protect against lost productivity, financial lose, loss of service reputation and heavy inconvenience, not to mention employee dissatisfaction and frustration.
Do you need tips are help in creating or improving your attendance management program, policies or systems before summer retreat's and advanced spring fever hit? We can help!
We would be happy to talk about your unique challenges and work towards solutions customized to your dealership, email us at info@dealerpilothr.com.