proactive workforce planning for your organisation

The employers with the most success in managing absenteeism and mitigating its impact use proactive planning instead of simply reacting to staff shortages and scrambling to plug gaps in the workforce.

analyse your labour force

Start by collecting data to get a clear picture of where you currently stand regarding adherence to your attendance policy.

Identify trends by looking at your average absenteeism rate over specific periods. First, consider a company-wide calculation for a comprehensive review. Then, focus on departments and finally, individual workers. These figures will help you determine if you have a problem within a division or only during certain times of the year or need a complete revamping of your absenteeism policy.

Run a staff capacity audit to discover where the most significant problems will likely arise when absences occur. You’ll also be able to see where you’re running too tight a ship and need to recruit more talent or where you can rearrange schedules or shifts to provide better coverage.

This may also be the time to consider more flexible work options. For example, the four-day workweek is gaining ground with many companies, and so is the use of software apps to handle shift work and a hybrid work model.

Activities like workforce skills audits let you find how your people are placed regarding the knowledge and skills required to perform tasks. You can then concentrate on any skills gaps that may exist or develop when you adopt new technologies and see where you need to recruit or transfer employees.

Furthermore, pinpointing the competencies required to complete critical tasks and having a clear picture of your labour force skills will help you design appropriate training and development plans. Finally, upskilling employees in these vital areas will help ensure you can keep your core business running, even when you're understaffed.

Given a choice, companies find that upskilling and reskilling current employees pay out huge dividends from a cost standpoint and worker morale. For example, a global survey by McKinsey concerning companies that have recently succeeded at digital transformation found that they were 35% more proficient at reskilling existing employees than the companies who’ve struggled during their adaptation.

study business operations

It's crucial to prepare for times of reduced workforce capacity by identifying the tasks critical to the business's functioning. This will help you determine which activities need to be prioritised and which can be set aside when key staff members are absent.

Workforce planning and scheduling practises can help ensure that you're always making the best use of available talent and deploying people where they're most effective, regardless of your current position, with respect to absenteeism.

address employee concerns

Once you’ve looked at your absentee statistics and determined the talent assets you must have to succeed, it’s time to focus on absenteeism management.

First, consider the most common physical reasons to miss work and look for long-term company-wide solutions.

chronic health problems: Support good habits for your employees, including activity incentives, healthy snacks, on-site exercise facilities or other wellness perks
seasonal call-offs: Invest in better ventilation, hand sanitisers and touchless trash cans and encourage vaccines
mental health challenges: Keep an open dialogue, so workers feel free to discuss any problems, and ensure employees are aware of available support programmes

Regarding work-related reasons for absenteeism, you may find it more difficult to get to the root of the problem. You will need a close connection with your workforce to identify these issues. Opinion surveys are essential in discovering how people feel about their jobs but don’t neglect to follow through with dynamic solutions.

Bullying or toxic work environment: Harassment has no place in the work environment and should be immediately discouraged. Consider soft-skill training for managers to ensure leadership provides emotional and social support to their team
lack of engagement: Give your workers a sense of purpose by letting them see how they fit into your organisation’s goals. The Society for Human Resource Management recommends offering team and individual recognition to help develop inclusivity and improved performance
company values: Randstad’s Workmonitor 2023 survey found that employees want more than a steady job. They’re looking for fulfilment and a chance to make a difference in the world. Furthermore, 42% are willing to defend their values by refusing to work for a company that doesn’t fit their social and environmental belief system.. If your organisation has sustainability goals or contributes toward specific causes, ensure employees realise how they can participate in these endeavours.
training: The Workmonitor 2022 survey also found a strong desire among employees of all ages to learn and improve, with more than 50% wanting programmes to help them in their current roles. Other areas of interest were soft skills and leadership training and technical competency.
flexibility: While the pandemic didn’t initiate the hybrid work movement, it definitely fuelled it. Look for opportunities to offer your employees more control over their schedules, whether remote work, a shortened work week or shift adjustments.

To ensure the success of your employee attendance improvement plan, it helps to get professional advice from HR industry experts.

As part of our Randstad Inhouse Services, we offer a care programme to support your efforts to gauge sentiment in your workforce and identify which aspects of their work people appreciate or find difficult. We can also help your overall efforts to optimise recruitment and HR, which could prove crucial when you're understaffed and need to hire reliable workers quickly.

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