Managers are those groups of employees who are at the first level of line management. As the rank and file employees answer directly to them, the managers have the greatest influence on how the employees behave and how positive their attitudes are toward the company they are working for. The employees’ perception of the company and how important they perceive their own roles in the company are vital to the success of the business.
This is the exact reason why managers should have the right “ people skills ” to be able to effectively motivate the staff and deal with difficult problems. The managers must serve as the guide of the staff so every employee would have a someone to look up to and turn to for coaching and support and for questions that they might have for their career development and work efficiency. Thus, a manager must be a good leader and also a follower of company rules to serve as a model for his subordinates.
The culture in the business and good staff management are powerful forces that affect staff retention. It is to be remembered that employees who feel good about themselves and are satisfied of their roles and their contribution to the business are going to reflect this in the way they help push the company forward. In much the same way that improper people management can also force the workers to resign. Thus, it is of utmost importance that managers have the knowledge on how to motivate, guide and oversee his staff.
Since managers are in the frontlines dealing directly with the staff and faced with various issues, for example, poor work ethics, various customer complaints, bad performance, low work productivity, etc., they must know exactly how to handle these problems, take appropriate action, and cope with stress at the end of the day.
Statistics show that almost two out of three employees who do not show up for work is not physically ill. Unscheduled absences are one of the major causes of low productivity. This is most often due to lack of firm staff policies and want of good staff discipline.
For most companies, dealing with staff absenteeism is upon the frontline managers. This is because it is the immediate supervisors or frontline managers who are most aware of the circumstances surrounding the absence of their subordinates. Also, the managers are in the best position to be aware of the problem as soon as it starts and also in the position to very well identify its causes. Therefore, their active involvement in the company’s absence policy and disciplinary procedures is vital to the effectiveness and success of these policies.
It is, however, unfortunate that most managers are not very well trained in managing absenteeism in the workplace. They have been left on their own and without any means to carry out the often unpopular task of identifying, confronting and resolving frequent absence abuse.
To ensure that supervisors and frontline managers are comfortable and competent in their role of managing absenteeism, they need to have the full support of senior management. Everybody must be aware of the different objectives of the absence policy. If there are misunderstandings between departments, the policy is bound to lose its effectiveness.
To provide more consistency, supervisors should be trained in their responsibilities about managing absenteeism, advised how to conduct effective return-to-work interviews, and educated in the imposition of disciplinary sanctions if the need arises.
Managing absenteeism requires a firm company policy. But, above everything else, it must have a “Plan B” is ever the problem persists. It must ensure that the work is appropriately covered during the term of the employee’s absence. A reliever should be assigned in order to cover the work so as not to hinder productivity.
Importantly, critical actions must be taken to instill to the employees that absence abuse will not be tolerated and there are appropriate sanctions for these unjustified absences. Some of the usual policies and absenteeism deterrents can be:
- Having an absence policy in written form which provisions are made known to all the employees;
- Confirming from the employee’s household when the employee phones in sick for the day. This will require a visit to the employee’s domicile.
- Having a detailed record of absences which specifies the cause of the absence, medical record form the physician, days of absence, date of return and the like;
- Identifying the diverse patterns of absences and the possible causes of these;
- Conducting a thorough interview when the employee gets back; and
- Imposing disciplinary sanctions if there is a need to do so.
