Why does any organization require Absence Management Solutions?
Absence management is vital in improving the productivity of any business by reducing the absenteeism of employees and driving optimum use of all resources available. With the right policies and tools are your disposal, absence management and planning can become a much simpler affair than traditional forms.
Employee absenteeism can result from both planned and unplanned reasons such as illness, family emergencies, maternity leave and holidays etc. if there are no absence management solutions in place, this can bring about negative effects for your business.
The consequences of bad absence management can include, the added workload for other employees, understaffing at vital points, burnout and employee dissatisfaction.
So yes, absence management solutions are vitally important for any successful business, big or small. The first thing you should have in place is a proper absence management policy, followed by using sophisticated leave and time and attendance software such as Softworks.
What is Absence Management Policy?
Absence management policies uphold your business’ objectives and define the rights of your employees whenever they take leave from work. Every organization has full control over its guidelines on absence, so a good policy ought to guide workers regarding what is expected of them. This aids in enhancing proper monitoring of employees missing from work and reduces related financial losses.
A good absence management policy should have a clear directive on who should be informed if an employee is going to be absent. It should also guide the course of action whenever an employee misses work. This policy should explain how to process leave days and account for compensation during the absence.
Every business should have specific stipulations for leave days. By informing your staff of their rights and obligations, you are on the right track to creating an absence management solution that works.
Where possible incorporate new working arrangements such as work-from-home (WFH), split shifts etc. Though complicated, with the use of the right software these new working arrangements can be easily tracked and maintained. Creating a better work-life balance for your employees and management.
How to Monitor Employee Absence?
There are several ways to track employee absences. You can do it manually or through software systems. Electronic tools have proven to be more effective by saving time, reducing costs and ensuring accuracy. Softworks have several built-in features to help monitor and track employee time and attendance including the use of biometric systems.
Every absence management system should monitor both planned and unplanned absences.
Planned absence includes doctors’ appointments and holidays and any other leave days that have been requested and approved in advance.
Family emergencies, illnesses, and accidents qualify as unplanned absences. Unplanned absences can cause staffing issues if they occur at the wrong time. With absence management solutions it is easier to rectify such issues, with real-time changes.
The implementation of e-monitoring of employee absences should reduce the rate of employee absenteeism. It will be a gentle reminder that they should not take advantage of the system.
Older manual recording and absence investigating are time-consuming and require a lot of different departments to be in communication. Leave management software takes care of most if not all these problems.
The Benefits of Effective Absence Management Solutions
It’s impossible to achieve full employee attendance because illnesses and emergencies will always happen. With the use of proper absence management solutions, employees can notify management of absences more easily and highlight problem areas.
Without absence management solutions, some departments may be lacking the right workforce and employees may be taking advantage of problem areas. Using the right software reduces costs, improves planning and shores up any issues.
1. Reducing Time spent on administrative tasks
Processing leave days takes up a lot of HR staff’s time. It typically involves looking through the leave days that have been requested and examining the remaining holiday allowance. An automatic system will be able to provide this information instantly.
Using a dedicated portal will also help employees and managers to use and plan added leave days.
2. Improved Employee Well-Being
Having an effective absence management system will help improve employee health and well-being. A stressed and burnt-out workforce is not good for either your business or your employees.
Easily accounting for leave days and having systems in place to manage sick leave, maternity leave or other unforeseen days off will reduce stress and make planning easier. The last thing an ill employee wants to do is focus on admin tasks to sort out their leave days.
Easy-to-use software should take care of this problem for you.
3. Help Reduce Employee Non-attendance
Absence management solutions reduce absenteeism in different ways. First, they minimize the number of unplanned leave days. Once employees know that they are being monitored, they will be less likely to take an unauthorized leave of work.
Though not the sole aim, monitoring attendance and time on site does help to reduce absenteeism. You may also be able to monitor progress reports and other such data within software systems.
4. Save Companies from Financial Losses
Regular employee absence can cost a lot of money to businesses and hinder project progression. Absent employees impose extra work on other colleagues who must take over their roles.
Added costs can include overtime pay for employees, loss of revenue due to understaffing and bad customer service.
With automated absence management solutions in place, you can minimize or eliminate such problems.
5. Help Understand Absentee Trends and their Main Causes
By monitoring your employees’ absenteeism, you also learn what has caused this non-attendance and perhaps, how to solve these issues. Additionally, you can also identify the frequency of employee absence and its overall effect on company growth.
Conclusion:
Absenteeism at work is going to happen from time to time. Nevertheless, you need to ensure that while it does, it aligns with your standard operating procedures. Ensure that it has little to no effect on the operations of your organization. Absence management solutions are the surefire way to guarantee smooth operations.
Concrete policies with the right software solutions, such as Softworks, ensure that absence management does not become a major issue for your business. It also helps to reduce any existing problems.
