Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

The problem of high degree of absenteeism is one of the key challenges for any kind modern business. Absenteeism has direct negative impacts upon overall productivity of the company and leads to financial losses. Apart of the concrete departments, where the employees are absent to the highest degree, the whole company is affected. In addition absentees are to be paid for their sick leave and this is another challenge from the financial side. The reasons, why employees do not come to their work places every once in a while could be different. In some cases they take sick days, in other cases they have their vacations and sometimes the situations, when they just do not come, are also possible.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay The pattern of missing work on a relatively frequent basis is known under the term absenteeism. Usually absenteeism is associated with poor performance and bears very high costs for the employer. Generally there are two types of absenteeism pointed out: culpable absenteeism and non-culpable absenteeism. To the first type belong the individuals, who do not provide any legitimate reasons for missing work. The second type includes those individuals, who are able to provide legitimate reason for missing their work places. Causes of absenteeism could be different, mostly they are of great concern in relation to the first type of absenteeism. In cases, if an employee is able to inform his manager about his future absence in advance, then the negative impact of this absence is not that serious in comparison to the situation, when a worker misses his work unexpectedly and unpredictably. The most often reported causes of absenteeism are personal health problems, demands of family and children and lack of motivation. Detailed analysis and investigation of these and other causes of absenteeism could be of great help to any manager or business leader.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

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The author insists that management of stress in the workplace is one of the most important issues, which should be considered by employees in order to keep the level of absenteeism lower. This year the issues of stress, experienced by employees, were reconsidered with greater attention by the government. The major aim of this research was to inform about the existence of this problem and its relation to high rates of absenteeism, as well as provide new guidance for promoting positive mental health in the work place. According to the Health and Safety Executive stress could be defined as the adverse reaction of individuals towards excessive pressure or any other type of demand, experienced by them. Certainly some degree of pressure is needed for efficient running of business, still this pressure should not become excessive. The author of the article provides statistical data about the estimated figures, defining the impact of employment. The data was provided on the basis of Labour Force Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics in 2015-2016. On the basis of this report, it was possible to assume that there are professions, which are more affected by stress and anxiety. It is mentioned that any problem should be treated at its early stage at the same time not allowing it to be transformed into stress.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

Evaluation of the actual statistical data is very useful for understanding of the meaning of stress and depression by employees and impact of stress upon absenteeism. The author comments that employers actually bear the legal responsibility for the state of health of their employees and mental health is included. In addition they are to create positive working environment for the employees to manage their stress and be less luckily intended to take sick leave.

This article provides short quantitative analysis, allowing to understand the meaning of stress for workers and their employers. Understanding not only the reasons of absenteeism, but also the causes of it could be beneficial for all employers, irrespective of the sphere of their activity. At the end of the article there is a detailed list of the factors, which should be considered by employees in order to be able to manage the problem of absenteeism. The weak point about this article is too narrow specialization of the research, as not only lack of stress could be seen as the factor, contributing to creation of positive work environment.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

2. Chakraborty Suhash, Subramanya, Anantha H. C. (2013).Socio-demographic and clinical predictors of absenteeism – A cross-sectional study of urban industrial employees. Ind Psychiatry J. Jan-Jun; 22(1): 17–21. doi: 10.4103/0972-6748.123589

The last two decades were the period, when more and more researchers started to consider the problem of professional stress in relation to its impact upon professional activity of individuals and employees absenteeism. This article considers the modern context of correlations between public sector undertakings and privatization, as one of the major threats, which adds pressure upon managers and has negative impact upon employees. Such environment becomes a significant reason for employees’ absenteeism. The authors aimed at finding the concrete connection between job stress and absenteeism in the conditions of certain socio-demographic environment. This qualitative research was conducted in an urban aeronautical industry, with 68 participants, who informed about their job stress. The jobs stress was measured with the help of Professional Life Stress Scale by David Fontana. The “absenteeism” group was mostly formed by those employees, who took sick leave within last six months only with the aim to avoid work and work stress. The results of this study showed that such factors as having more than one job previously, commuting time more than an hour, depression or anxiety, interstate migration, alcohol abuse were very often associated with absenteeism. At the same time such factors as age, race, marital status, gross pay, education, job tenure did not reveal serious connection to absenteeism and correspondingly upon general performance of the organization. Initially the research focused upon mostly private sectors, however later it gradually passed to the government-run undertakings, because they were to face the threat of privatization or even closure. Job stress turned out to be an important factor both for private sector absenteeism, as well as absenteeism in public sector. Some Indian studies underlined the degree of absenteeism exactly in industrial sector, because of very high stress there. It is important to mention that not all workers, who experience job stress, remain absentees.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

This article offers the investigation of a limited number of individuals, thus the authors are not able to compare their finding with different studies, as they took also different parameter of absenteeism. They oversimplified the concept of absenteeism, using it as just absence from the work place. In addition they focused only upon absenteeism, which resulted from job stress only. There are a lot of situations in real life, when individuals experience stress not only because of their work problems and these are also important factors to consider for work absenteeism.

The importance of this study lies in the fact that the authors utilized the standard scale for pointing out only job-stressed employees. Irrespective of the limitations in size, this study still reveals the factors, which make a stressed worker vulnerable for absenteeism and could be of great help to the employer and managers in order to manage and prevent the problem of absenteeism. In addition it would provide more space for further research in the sphere.

MIXED METHOD RESEARCH
1. Melanie Pescud, Renee Teal, Trevor Shilton, Terry Slevin, Melissa Ledger, Pippa Waterworth, and Michael Rosenberg. (2015). Employers’ views on the promotion of workplace health and wellbeing: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health. 2015; 15: 642. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-2029-2 Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

Workplace health promotion has positive impact upon the state of health of employees and their choices and behaviors. This study is an investigation of the position of employees in relation to the meaning of the health promotion at their work places. This research involved 10 focus groups from various kinds of industries and geographical locations. The results of the research proved that there are three important factors: employer’s conceptualization of workplace health and environment, employer’s beliefs about the role of the workplace for the state of employees’ health and employers’ presentation of healthy and unhealthy workers and importance of supporting of their health. The authors made the conclusions about the connection between promoting of wellbeing and health and progress in avoiding absenteeism; they suggest that there is a need to work out an education campaign in order to spread information about the constituent parts of health and wellbeing, outside the scope of occupational health and safety at work place as well as information, related to the evident benefits of occupational health for the overall success of the organization and lack of absenteeism problem.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

As known, excessive absenteeism among employees can make a devastating effect on working environment, company’s proclivity, effectiveness of business processes and further organizational development. Statistics shows that “persistent absenteeism (habitual and intentional time off) is a chronic problem for U.S. employees costing $3,600 per hourly employee per year, and $2,650 per salaried employee per year” (Beesley, 2016). Excessive absenteeism can also make a powerful negative impact on company’s finances, ethical values, moralities, and other elements within working environment. Some psychologists state that absenteeism is a personal problem while others insist on management issue in the workplace. Being a department manager, it is crucially important to make effective interventions, and immediate prevention steps to reduce the development of excessive absenteeism and eliminate the potential negative effects in the future; it is essential to enhance clear expectations within working environment to encourage commitment, engagement and collaboration. Thus, a department manager should pay more attention to writing attendance policy making it a measure of good performance, and setting clear attendance expectations within workplace. It is also important to regularly reward good performance using bonuses, and enhance employees’ support to help them cope with personal issues and problems that make an impact on their work attendance and productivity. I consider that it is also essential to create some wellness programs, which may help to change employees’ behaviors, philosophies, and habits and increase their desire to work productively. During my work experience, I’ve noticed that it can be effective to reduce stress and pressure within working environment, which in its turn positively impact employees’ emotional health, working relationships, moods, and behaviors. All these stretegies and preventive measures can help to reduce personal issues, increase employees’ productivity and desire to work effectively, and avoid dysfunctional work environment, eliminate potential negative outcomes in the future Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

Generally the problem of prevention of chronic diseases is considered to be one of the global health problems and it is related to a great number of conditions and aspects, including normal nutrition, lifestyle practices, alcohol use or smoking, etc. Unhealthy lifestyles have their negative impact upon absenteeism and overall productivity at work places, irrespective of the kind of organization or industry. Workplaces are in fact very important settings, where adult individuals spend most of their time. Thus those programs, which could be developed for workplaces and introduced there, could be really successful for promoting health initiatives for the sake of individual workers and whole organizations. The authors of the article focus their attention upon evident things about health care promotion and its importance, which are often overlooked or ignored by managers, when they consider the ways of copying with the problem of absenteeism.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

Certainly health and wellbeing at the workplace is too broad theme to be considered just in one article, however at least it is important to understand the connection between health promotion and absenteeism. There is not much research done in the sphere of wellbeing in the workplace and actual impact of it upon employees. This is the reason, why such qualitative and quantitative research of a number of organizations from various settings could be of great use for working out the corresponding programs.

2. Forte Simone N.A. (2017). Strategies for reducing employee absenteeism for a sustainable future: a Bermuda perspective. Walden University Retrieved from http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5044&context=dissertations Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

Absenteeism is one of the most researched aspects in the sphere of human resource management and organizational behavior due to the fact that it has vitally important meaning for overall performance and success of the organization. Starting from 1950s researchers do their best to point out the real reasons of absenteeism and determinants of similar behaviors of employees. Even under the condition of such focus upon the issue, absenteeism remains till the moment one of the most serious organizational problems and all business managers are forced to look for the possible solutions of the problem. High absenteeism level is inevitable connected to high costs and this fact forces business leaders consider effective strategies for reduction of employee absenteeism. Forte points out that absenteeism is very complex phenomena and it is under the impact of a great number of interrelated factors. Quantitative analysis in this article helps to understand the size of the problem and the fact correlation between absenteeism and revenue losses of the companies in UK for example. Qualitative research related to the identification of the specific business problems, which do not allow managers to work and implement strategies for reducing of employee absenteeism. The author used the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in order to consider the strategies, which could be helpful for the middle-level managers for reducing the level of absenteeism in their organizations. The TPB could be used as an effective framework for researching of the theoretical determinants of human behavior and for understanding of the association between human behaviors and choices and motivation and the efficiency of behavioral control.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

This article treats the issue with detailed consideration and research, at the same time, there is too much focus upon the financial side of the problem for the organizations. There is an ideal concept of workers and organization relations, when both sides are satisfied and the interests of both sides are considered. The author is focused mostly upon the interests of business owners and their challenges, without analyzing of the employees’ attitudes.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

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This article could make a good contribution into the research of the problem of absenteeism and the ways of solving it. All organizations are different; they experience different challenges and operating in various environments. However, conducting of multiple levels of analysis might be really helpful for the management in determining of the best strategies for treating the problem of absenteeism. This mixed research provides findings, which could be utilized for preparation of the absenteeism mitigation plans and strategies, which could improve mental, physical and financial levels of employees.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Najmoddin Nekzada and Selamawit Fisseha Tekeste. (2013). Stress causes and its management at the work place .-A qualitative study on the causes of stress and management mechanisms at Volvo Trucks AB, Umea University Retrieved from https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:693132/FULLTEXT01.pdf

External factors have great impact upon individuals and their stress at their workplaces. These factors include changes in the economy of the country, technological advancements, etc. This leads to the situation, when stress is already considered to be an inevitable condition of work. Additional portion of stress comes from the process of globalization, as many individuals are engaged into multinational corporations, where workers from various cultural backgrounds could be met. This qualitative study focused upon concrete causes of stress at a multinational company, on the basis of the example of Volvo Trucks AB. Along with this, the authors investigated the options for management of stress by employees of the company. This qualitative research included descriptive and exploratory case study approach.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay The research data was collected with the help of semi-structured interviews with employees of Volvo Trucks AB, including the one, who is in the position of a therapist of the company. During this research it was found out that the causes of stress could vary, including personal problems and work overload, as well as various work conflicts and unpleasant situations between colleagues. Most of the employees are able to cope with this stress, however, those, who can not, they suffer from problems with health and performance. The situation is worsened by the fact that most of stressful situations are unpredictable. Many employees lack time management skills and self-confidence. In other words, this study is important for the problem of absenteeism and its relation to stress, because the authors help to see the other side of the medal. Not only employers are obliged to control the stress issues at workplaces, but also employees bear their responsibility for appropriate organization of their work.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

Thus stress management is important for both sides and participants of the process. This is the strong point about this research for the problem. Also the authors proposed concrete stress management approaches, which were based upon organization of time management, sharing feelings and organization of leisure activities. Theoretical framework is certainly helpful, but most managers are often not aware of the need to reconsider concrete aspects of their work process organization. Irrespective of the current position of the worker and his experience level, an employee might be stressed.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

There is some level of stress, which could be considered normal in the work process, however, it should not be exceeded, otherwise people would not feel comfortable at the organization and would prefer to be absent from their work places. Managers are to go through a number of stages in order to solve the problem of stress: identification of stress causes, making steps towards stress management and finally application of the stress management techniques.

Evans,Josiane. (2011). Master’s thesis in Cultural, Social and Community Psychology Absenteeism- a complex problem. NTNU Retrieved from https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/270656/439236_FULLTEXT01.pdf?sequence=1 Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

The author investigated the problem of absenteeism as a serious community problem. There are a lot of really important matters, which need financial support, but the money is often wasted because of absenteeism. This qualitative research was made on the basis of a number of nursing homes, where the absenteeism rate was reported as relatively low and those nursing homes, where it was reported as high. The participants of this research were caregivers, managers from nursing homes, thus it gave the chance to consider the situation from various perspectives. The results of this research proved that there are some organizational, leadership and individual differences, which need to be considered in relation to absenteeism rates. Some employees are able to handle the stressful situations much better and correspondingly they are healthier in comparison to those employees, who reveal high level of absenteeism due to their inability to cope with work stress. The managers from the nursing homes with low absenteeism rates are more involved into the routine activities and problems of their employees, they are more supportive and protective. The conclusions of this research are that absenteeism is a rather sophisticated problem and thus it should be treated with participation of each member of the process, each of them should be committed and interested in finding the best appropriate solution.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

This research is not profound enough, in addition it is focused upon concrete organizations, nursing homes, very much. All organizations are different and have their peculiarities, thus the research lacks some generalized strategies for stress management in order to reduce the level of absenteeism of employees.

Detailed consideration of the positions of various participants of the organizational processes provides the opportunity to reveal the importance of multilayer involvement into absenteeism managing process. Neither employees nor managers or employers should distance from the problem and this is the best way to work out the correct strategies with consideration of everybody’s interests and problems. Managers and employees should first develop collaborative relations, as the basis for their productive work for the future.Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

Overall, the research findings support the idea that absenteeism is a very complex phenomenon, having great impact upon overall productivity and efficiency of an organization. In most cases the key cause of absenteeism is high level of stress, experienced by employees and correspondingly there is a need to work out such strategies, which would be workable for stress reduction.

We all have been absent from work for one reason or another. Some are absent more than others, but when it takes place on a regular basis then absenteeism is a noticeable problem for that company. Absenteeism can defined as habitual absence from work, thought to reflect employee demoralization or dissatisfaction. Employee absenteeism is a costly problem for almost all employers. The definition of absenteeism, its causes, its affects on productivity, and its costs in terms of finances and administrative effectiveness are quite clear, the challenge is in taking affirmative action to control it. People can be absent from work for a number or reasons, some of them for a very good reason, but whatever the reason, absence is costly  Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay
Cost of self-insured income protection plans must be borne, since it requires the employer to pay on absent days as well. Moreover, the wage costs of replacement employees. Lastly, premium costs may rise for insured plans. Finally, the administrative costs are last. Staff time is required to secure replacement employees or to re-assign the remaining employees. Staff time is required to maintain and control absenteeism, which is all will result in loss to the employer.
There is a point at which the employer’s right to expect the employee to attend regularly and fulfill the employment contract will outweigh the employee’s right to be sick. At such a point the termination of the employee may be justified. Therefore, good preventive procedures should be put in place to avoid such happenings to occur. It is very difficult to take affirmative action to control absenteeism in such a way as not to create mistrust, costly administration and systems avoidance. First and foremost, training for managing attendance must be administered.  Causes & Prevention of Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay

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