During the winter months, companies typically experience a rise in employee absenteeism. Cold and flu are particularly prevalent at this time of year, and increased levels of stress can lead to employees missing work more often. Short-term absences in particular are an especially costly form of absenteeism. Employees taking odd days off are often more disruptive to the business than planned absences.
Employee absences can be very costly to employers, with the average employee missing 6.6 days per year, so what can companies do to keep their staff healthy and reduce absenteeism levels?
1. Promote a healthy workplace
Encouraging your employees to lead a healthy and active lifestyle can go a long way to managing and reducing the rate of absenteeism in your organisation. With access to onsite gyms or subsidised gym contributions, employees will be more motivated to exercise. Exercise has been scientifically proven to boost your immune system. Other changes in the work environment such as introducing fruit and healthy snack options to your company may lead to employees eating better and may also contribute to the reduction of unexpected absences and sick days.
2. Striving for a better work-life balance
In the modern work environment, a good work-life balance is essential for employee well-being and improved employee well-being can most certainly lead to a decrease in employee absenteeism. We are all under pressure, balancing a job, family and countless other commitments. A poor work-life balance may result in an increase in employee stress which in turn may cause the employee to resort to absenteeism.
A poor work-life balance can cause employees to neglect other aspects of their lives such as family time and self-care.
By introducing flexible working options such as flexitime and working from home companies can improve their employees’ work-life balance and eliminate the need for sudden and unapproved absences.
3. Promoting Mental Health
Employee Mental health is an area that, while once overlooked, has gained significantly more recognition in recent years. Employers have realised that their employee’s mental health is just as important as their physical health. If an employee is struggling with their mental health, it can potentially cause them to be absent from work without permission. Anxiety and depression are responsible for approximately 15 % of unplanned absences. Employers have a duty of care when it comes to Employee mental health. By encouraging an open environment and offering the appropriate support to employees, employers may be able to decrease the rate of employee absenteeism due to mental health issues.
4. Proactive Absence Management
Fortunately for employers, there are several tools and solutions at their disposal for managing unplanned employee absences. One such tool is the Bradford Factor. You can find out more about the Bradford Factor and it’s applications in our Whitepaper.
If your company is experiencing high levels of employee absenteeism, you may want to consider introducing Absence Management and tracking software to address this issue.
Softworks Absence Management solution has been designed to reduce the complicated administrative elements of managing unplanned absences. Our solution provides accurate real-time attendance information which can help to minimise the negative effects and expense of unplanned absences and absenteeism.
For an in-depth look at how Softworks Absence Management solution can be of benefit to your organisation, get in touch for a live demonstration.
