15 Top Tips to Reduce Absenteeism in your Organisation
At Via Vita Health we often work with our clients to help them reduce their absenteeism. Absence is often a core driver for their health and wellbeing programme and a clear KPI for the success of their efforts. According to the CIPD Absence Management Survey 2015 “Organisations that achieved their absence targets were significantly more likely to manage absence through promoting health and well-being than those that did not achieve their targets’ hence more and more organisations are waking up to the strategic and commercial benefits of promoting health and wellbeing to their workforce.
At Via Vita Health we firmly believe that reducing absenteeism requires a threefold approach:
Prevention (proactive)
Management
Treatment (reactive)
Prevention (Proactive)
Proactively supporting well-being can prevent people from going off sick, or deal with an issue before it becomes a real problem. And with the estimated cost of absence to employers being around £550 per employee per year, the spotlight is very much on promoting workforce health.
Health Promotion In the Workforce
Educational workshops and training on nutrition, physical activity & mindset
Health activity provision such as boot camps, yoga, running clubs, walking clubs
Healthy food provision (fruit, healthy canteen food)
Support for National Health Awareness campaigns
Charity affiliations at organisational level
Discounted gym membership
Workload & Culture
Actively identifying risks and stressors in the workforce i.e workload,accident, injury
Senior business leaders set example of work life balance, not 24/7 culture
No weekend or holiday working expectations
Health Screening / Health Checks
Occupational Health Screening
Lifestyle & Health Consultations
Medical Checks
Onsite Physiotherapy/nurses
Management Training
Mental Health First Aid
Stress Indicator and Management Training
Drug & Alcohol Awareness
HR Policy
Flexible Working Policy, duvet days
Holiday Enforcement
Make absence management a KPI for your business
Incentive schemes tied to absence
Absence Management
Absence is a cost for every business, how you manage it internally can have a huge impact on your employees, your managers and your bottom line.
Robust and visible absence management policy and procedure
Monitor absence trends and enforce policy
Record absence accurately with as much detail as possible
Management Training
Training on HR policies and Procedure
Back to work interviews
Signposting to relevant services such as Occupatioanal Health
Recording absence accurately
Employee Training
Training on HR Policies and Procedures
Information and awareness of resources available to them for support
Treatment ( Reactive)
Treatment is usually the strongest and most visible part of an organisation’s approach to health , wellbeing and absence management, as most employers are keen to get their employees back into work as quickly and efficiently as possible. So if we focus all of our efforts here, is it not already too late?
Occupational Health Providers
Occupational Physiotherapy
Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
Health Care Benefits/ Cash Plans
Managed, phased back to work policy and guidance for managers
By looking at absence holistically through this threefold approach you are more likely to reduce absenteeism within your organisation and to feel the benefits both financially and operationally. To truly develop a culture of health and well-being that inherently reduces absenteeism, an inclusive approach is needed, with activity that appeals to the diverse needs of the workforce and considers physical health, mental health and lifestyle factors.
So ask yourself, is employee well-being viewed as ‘a nice to have’ or fundamental to the way your business operates?
For more information or to book your free consultation contact us at [email protected].
