What Causes Absenteeism and how does it affect a company?
Absenteeism is one of the biggest and most persistent obstacles to productivity and profit in a company. There are a number of factors that cause employees to be absent from work. Sickness, family problems and lack of motivation are all responsible for causing employees to be absent from work. Repeated and unplanned absences over an extended period of time can eventually begin to adversely affect a company’s overall performance.
Below are two of the most common causes of absenteeism:
- Disengagement: Employees who are not committed to their role or are not satisfied are more likely to miss time. They have less motivation to go to work and therefore are at a higher risk of taking unplanned absences.
- Lack of work-life balance: It is hugely important that employees have a good relationship between their work life and personal life. Employees who are overworked are more likely to take unplanned and unscheduled absences to maintain some balance in their lives.
Employees who engage in unplanned absenteeism are putting an increased cost on their employer.
Some of the main costs of absenteeism include:
- Cost of employee replacement.
- The administrative cost of managing absence.
- Poor product/service provided to customers due to labour shortage.
- Low employee morale levels as other employees are expected to compensate for their absent co-workers.
- Absenteeism causes overtime, late deliveries and dissatisfied customers.
In the United Kingdom, absenteeism is costing businesses billions each year. The average employee in the UK takes 10 unplanned absences every year.
What steps can employers take to minimise the negative effect of unplanned absences?
Ultimately, companies need to implement an Absence management system to track and analyse employee absence behaviour. By identifying and understanding patterns of absence companies can take the necessary steps to reduce both the financial and indirect costs of absenteeism.
Find out more about reducing absenteeism in the workplace and download our dedicated whitepaper.
Softworks can help your company to achieve its absence management and attendance tracking goals. Schedule a Demo and find out how!
