High Absenteeism Level among Employees - Essay Example

High absenteeism level among employees of GO GO International pvt limited Name Tutor Institutional affiliation Executive summary The global industrial economies are adversely affected by a major personnel problem known as absenteeism. Therefore, reduction of this problem of absenteeism is a well sorted ingredient of business success. Absenteeism is assuming a growing trend among Australian Organizations with the textile industry taking a considerable rate. With the high absenteeism rate the companies pay a high cost. The high cost result due to the high levels of quickly hiring a replacement and giving the required training. Within an organization, high absenteeism leads to production losses, reduced operations efficiency and amplified labor costs. The additional costs and losses that are resulting due to absenteeism are presumed to hit an alarming value in the near future if necessary steps are not taken to curb the problem. Good personnel management within an industry is directly proportional to increased production; otherwise, it will obstruct the organizations production process. Therefore, the problem calls for everyone’s attention. The report explores the causes as well as the cures of absenteeism in international pvt ltd. Some of the causes of absenteeism include low morale, sickness and low vigor, means of transport, rural exodus, night shift, drinking and amusement, accident, social and religious functions, nature of work and after pay day. In addition, possible solutions to absenteeism include management training, proper design of attendance incentive programs and teambuilding. Table of Contents Executive summary 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Definition of Absenteeism 3 Low morale 4 Sickness and low vigor 4 Means of transport 5 Night shift 5 Rural exodus 5 Accident 5 Social and religious function 6 Drinking and amusement 6 After pay day 6 Nature of work 6 Other causes 7 Stress 9 Rumors, Gossip and Negativity 9 Lack of incentive programs 10 Conclusion 11 References 12 Introduction A country’s economic progress is grounded on its industrialization base. Industrialized nations are looked at by others countries for technical, social, political, economical and cultural aspects of industrialization. This has resulted in the need to have man power understand their obligations and duties, hence, a significant growth of labor awareness. Absenteeism affects the overall maximum use of the man power. It is regarded as an industrial malady that affects productivity, investments, profits and those individuals who are absent. The increasing rate of absenteeism is costly to an organization and its social loss cannot be ascertained accurately. The measurement of absenteeism on industrial productions is difficulty measured precisely and easily. Absenteeism and industrial production loss are directly interlinked, meaning that a growing rate of absenteeism implies a higher loss for the organization as well as the whole country. Those other individuals working in the industry and in other sector feel the effects of high absenteeism rate. Definition of Absenteeism Absenteeism is defined by the Webster Dictionary as a habit or practice of one being an absentee. An absentee is an individual who normally stays away. In the words of Dodod, “Absenteeism refers to the workers inability to report to work regardless of the cause.” Absenteeism according to Jucius, “refers to workers failure to go to work as per the work schedule.”Heckett defined “Absenteeism as a workers initiative of momentary cessation of work for an entire working day period while his attendance is expected.” In the words of Ankalikan, “Absenteeism refers to any unauthorized workers absence from his duties or obligations.” In general, Absenteeism is defined to incorporate the time lost due to accident, illness and work cessation time because of personal reasons. The cessation can be either authorized or unauthorized. In a considerable number of organization leave with pay, though an authorized absence is also, taken as absence. Rate of absenteeism is calculated using the formula below; No of total man shift lost * 100 No of total man shifts schedule Causes of absenteeism A considerable number of causes of absenteeism are genuine but others are not. The following are the reasons why man power failure to show up in their workplaces. Low morale The high rate of employee absenteeism in international pvt ltd is attributed to the low employee morale. Therefore, improving the morale of the employees is the only way out to solve the trouble of absenteeism. The common causes of low morale among the organization’s employees include stress, unavailability of incentive programs as well as negativity, rumors and gossip. Providing possible and appropriate solutions to the mentioned causes of low morale will help improve attendance and heighten employee attitude (Gale, 2003, p.117). Sickness and low vigor High percentage of the absenteeism rate witnessed in the organization is due to workers ill health. The common illness includes malaria, small box and cholera. The workers low vitality makes them prone to such illness. The workers have poor housing and sanitary conditions; hence their conditions of living are significantly affected. Means of transport The distance between the workplace and workers place of residence is in most cases far. The workers use their own means or the organization provide for them. Therefore, provision of by the organization for the transport facilities and the nature of the work affect the individual’s sickness rate. A considerable number of workers fail to resume their duties due to lack of transport. Night shift Those individuals that take up the night shift have the leading rate of absenteeism. This is because of the high levels of discomfort related to at night time. Therefore, individuals are forced not to attend to their work at night. Rural exodus During the different seasons, for instance, sowing and harvesting season workers return to their rural homes. Again, workers leave their other family members in the village making it necessary to have village visits. When the visits are more frequent it will result in high rate of absenteeism among organization employees. Accident The nature of factory work is performed based on the ability of the worker. Some work specifically, textile industry work are hazardous in nature hence workers are likely to encounter accidents. As the number of accidents increase the rate of absenteeism will also be on a rise. Social and religious function Workers emanate from different religious and social backgrounds. Social and religious settings are accompanied with different occasions which are supposed to be obeyed by its members. Therefore, the resulting high rate of absenteeism is due to workers failure to resume their duties since the workers attend such functions. The functions result to worker absence. An individual values and beliefs are the two main factors which help in shaping absence cultures. Drinking and amusement Most workers have their leisure time utilized in drinking. The only time regarded as leisure by the workers is night time. Therefore they are involved in drinking until late in the night. This implies that the workers will have difficulty in reaching for their work. The workers opt to be absent from work rather than being late. This is because the worker fears poor performance at workplace. After pay day Payday comes once every month, but in other cases it is experienced twice a month. It is evident that a considerable percentage of workers are absent from work on the day following payday. The workers prefer the day for meeting his family members and a good time to do family purchase. Therefore, most workers do not take up their duties on a day following payday, hence the higher the number of occasions in which workers are paid the higher the rate of absenteeism (Harrison & Price, 2003, p.91). Nature of work To many people, factory work is difficult and involving. Therefore, at the end of the day they find it difficult to adjust to the factory life and discipline. The end result is increasing rate of absenteeism among the workers. Other causes The rising rate of absenteeism is attributed to the following other causes; lack of sufficient welfare facilities, employment insecurity, fatigue and natural desire for enjoyment and rest, poor housing condition and lastly unwelcome employer behavior. Absenteeism is viewed as a social phenomenon that is rampant among individuals working in the industrial arena. The concept of absenteeism is complex to understand. This is because with the onset of industrial development and improvement causes of absenteeism are eliminated. This evident through improved health care facilities, working environment and increase in worker income. With Australian high level of industrialization, the rate of absenteeism experienced in the textile is going down for the last two decades (Haswell, 2003, p.81). A close connection is established between absenteeism and in debtless. It is maintained that high worker absenteeism is experienced due to expanded worker commitment. The commitment includes marriage, house, and purchase of land among others. However, other absentee do so because of their need to meet daily family expenses. The AMA (American Management Association) pointed out the following causes as the reasons why chronic absentee fail to show up in the workplace. They include personal maladjustment, sickness, lack of job interest and satisfaction, lack of transportation, as well as poor housing (Management). Managerial practices and policies in relation to welfare measures and working conditions have a close link with the increasing rates of absenteeism. When the organization management put in place policies that promote good working conditions and satisfactorily addresses the welfare issues of workers, the rate of absenteeism is likely to reduce significantly. Absenteeism is also interlinked with age. The young and the old register a higher rate of absenteeism with the rate of those in the middle age group taking the least percent of absenteeism. In addition, young workers are more willing to absent themselves from work relative to the old (Loundes, 2000, p.98). Other literatures maintain similar view in regard to the cause of absenteeism. The causes include unfavorable working environment, wages discomfort, unsuitable mental attitude due to boredom, lack of good drinking water and the widening gap between workers and management. In the financial context, absenteeism is related to workers wages. As, wages increase the rate of absenteeism decreases and vice versa. For instance, a study conducted on unionized Australian organizations revealed that workers view on the union has positive outcomes. When the workers view the union as collaborative and cooperative, the organization will register a low rate of absenteeism. Absenteeism affects an organization in a number of ways including increased costs, lost revenue, sick pay, pressure on teams, stress as well as temporary cover. In addition, it leads to interference of operation and productivity. Absenteeism is also prevalent in organization that is unionized as compared to non-unionized organizations through labor agreements that create a labor environment that depicts a company’s absence culture. Labor agreements allow extra absenteeism and compensate those who were absent hence creating an environment that favor absenteeism. The existing literature on absenteeism consequences maintains that effective management of absenteeism can lead to improved productivity, fiscal condition and service delivery of the organization. Recommendations for absenteeism management The high rate of employee absenteeism in international pvt ltd is attributed to the low employee morale. Therefore, improving the morale of the employees is the only way out to solve the trouble of absenteeism. The common causes of low morale among the organization’s employees include stress, unavailability of incentive programs as well as negativity, rumors and gossip. Providing possible and appropriate solutions to the mentioned causes of low morale will help improve attendance and heighten employee attitude (Introduction to Attendance Management, 2010). Stress The prevailing low morale among employees is due to stress. The main reason why stress exists is due to the poor relationship between employees and managers. These can be solved by launching intensive management training. The training will teach managers on their role of being a facilitator. The knowledge and training will provide the manager with styles that will encourage employee to raise their concerns and suggestions, give a listening ear to their issues, update employees on company activities, boost creativity, and make workers feel comfortable since they are sure that they are not going to be penalized because of their mistakes. Management training will improve worker morale hence a reduction is absenteeism rate. The training will also be of great importance to both the manager and the employee. The manager will acquire good listening and communication skills, hence, become an efficient and good manager (Muldowney, 2003, p.67). Rumors, Gossip and Negativity Rumors, gossip and negativity among workers promote low morale hence high rate of absenteeism. The possible solution is teambuilding. Teambuilding will promote respect among the workers hence eliminating these negative issues. The organization should come up with groups that are geared towards creating an environment where every group member is given an opportunity to plan, solve problems and make decisions. Planning enables the members to acquire techniques that are necessary in implementing different solutions, whereas, problem solving creates a feeling in employees concerning the importance of their contributions. The presence of the feeling of importance among workers help boost employee morale, hence, the organization will register high attendance levels. This is because the workers have a feeling that their presence is of great importance to the company. For teamwork to foster good attendance, team leaders should possess attributes resembling that of a facilitator and not s dictator (Iverson, Buttigieg & Maguire, 2003, p.72). Lack of incentive programs The presence of incentive programs that are well informed can result in improved attendance and attitude rates. The incentives help build internal motivation among workers which will keep their work spirit up, hence, the need to daily show up to work. Incentive can also be designed in such a way that it provides solutions to individuals with attendance problems. Some of the incentives include the organizations ability to pay workers the sick days after some time, giving workers early break for one Friday in a month so as to boost attendance, giving out attendance bonus for individuals with perfect attendance and finally giving out point based incentives and gifts to workers with exemplary attendance levels. The presence of attendance incentive plans creates a feeling of appreciation by the employer through the reward of employee for perfect attendance. The employees are awarded for their positive qualities including responsibility (Office of Human Resources). Conclusion The high level of absenteeism within an organization indicates a deficiency within the organization. Therefore, an organization management should identify both individual and organizational factors that influence absenteeism. The organizational factors that influence absenteeism incorporate work satisfaction and workplace. Workplace capture things like culture or practices and environment which relates to the working conditions experienced by workers during their daily working hours. The main question the organization should sought to answer concerns the satisfaction which the employee derive from their working environment. The state of the workplace and job satisfaction clearly indicates the absence levels. Employee health and distance from workplace to home also matters a lot in an employee decision to show up in the work place or not. The employer should, therefore, look for solutions to these factors and absenteeism as a whole in the organization. Problem analysis should take precedence for satisfactory problem solution to be achieved. The designed solutions to absenteeism problem should address the issue of employee morale. Workers morale is the panacea to all the root causes of absenteeism being witnessed in an organization. However, personal factors also contribute to high level of absenteeism; the existing evidence maintains that absenteeism can be solved by ensuring job satisfaction among the employees. The organization management has the sole responsibility of recruiting and selecting those employees with less chances of absenteeism. References Gale, S.F., 2003, Sickened by the cost of absenteeism, companies look for solutions. Pearson: Workforce Management. Harrison, D. A., & Price, K. H., 2003, Context and consistency in absenteeism. Baltimore: Human Resource Management Review. Haswell, M., 2003, Dealing with employee absenteeism. Melbourne: Management Services. Introduction to Attendance Management, March 2010, Retrieved from http://www.benefits.org/interface/cost/absent.htm Iverson, R. D., Buttigieg, D. M., & Maguire, C., 2003, Absence culture: The effects of union membership status and union-management climate. Sydney: Relations Industrielles. Levy, J. D., 2001, Avoiding the high cost of employee absenteeism. Baltimore: Business Journal. Loundes, J., 2000, Management and industrial relations practices and outcomes in Australian workplaces. Melbourne: Melbourne Institute. Management –issues. Retrieved from http://www.management-issues.com/absenteeism.asp Muldowney, S., 2003, Sick of work. Sydney: Australian CPA. Office of Human Resources, Absenteeism management. 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