Absenteeism in Manufacturing: How Do You Effectively Manage It Without Cutting Pay?

Dear Members, as we are aware, we face the same constraint in our field—controlling absenteeism in a manufacturing company. Day by day, we encounter this situation and address it through verbal discussions or orally if necessary.

Controlling Absenteeism in Manufacturing

My question is, is there a specific way or format to control absenteeism for staff and workmen (excluding loss of pay)?

Please assist me with this query.

Thanks & regards,
Prabhu

Addressing Absenteeism in the Workplace

This is a hot potato topic across the board. However, you may need to start by looking at your re-induction structure program. Focus on your sick leave rate compared to your absenteeism and, if possible, determine how much your sick leave rate contributes to the entire absenteeism problem that you are facing.

Addressing Absenteeism in the Workplace

Absenteeism can happen due to various reasons. First of all, tell me whether your senior members of the hierarchy are punctual and regular in attendance. If not, then they have to set a precedent and attend the office punctually. Leaders should be role models for people down the line in any organization. Another factor could be perhaps a lack of proper rules and their implementation.

Approaches to Resolve Absenteeism

One can approach resolving this problem in two ways - one with the 'carrot' and another with the 'stick'. The carrot approach could be that a person with the least number of days of absence can be rewarded monetarily or in a non-monetary way. This will be a good motivation factor for others to follow. The stick approach could be to spare the Danda, punish with a loss of pay, reduction in rewards, and anything that will hit the person if he is very casual and lackadaisical in his approach to his job and discipline. If your organization has an effective disciplinary system, I don't see any problem in plugging this issue. Commitment should emanate from the top and should spread to the bottom with all seriousness.

Best wishes

Addressing Repeated Absenteeism

If absenteeism is repeated by a few employees, it can be initially addressed through counseling, followed by written advice, warnings, and then disciplinary action, depending on the frequency of occurrence after the aforementioned steps. If there is no improvement, it may lead to the dismissal of the employee, provided that it is handled properly.

In the case of a group of people being absent, whether due to a festival, unknown grievances, etc., the cause should be analyzed and resolved.

Regards,
M. Venkatraghavan

Dear Mr. Venkataraghavan,

Linking Leave with Holidays

Normally, the tendency among employees is to link leave with holidays. It is always advisable for team heads to talk to their members about the loss in productivity due to the long absence of a large number of employees at the same time. They should also explain to the employees how the loss of production will lead to lower turnover and poor profit margins, and how poor profits will lead to reduced bonuses. Except for very few festivals for which the company declares holidays, other holidays are not relevant but are mandatory as per government rules. Therefore, employees should be asked not to combine leave with other mandatory holidays, like Guru Nanak Jayanthi. It has no relevance in the South, right?

Creating a Leave Roster

In such situations, team heads should, beforehand, talk to their members and create a roster to find out who is planning to take leave by combining declared holidays. Priority can be given to those employees who live far away from family. Next time, others can be given a chance. If this kind of rotation takes place, there won't be unexpected absenteeism. All that is required is some kind of proactive initiative from team heads, sitting with the workers in a conducive atmosphere, and speaking from the heart.

Anything is possible in this world, provided you have the right kind of resources, willpower, and a "can do it" attitude.

Best wishes