Organisational Behaviour and Managing Absenteeism

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Part 1: Managing Absenteeism

Introduction

Absenteeism is a very expensive problem for businesses. By "absenteeism" it is meant as Cascio's (2000) explanation: "any failure to report for or remain at work as scheduled, regardless of the reason". Annual Absence & Labour Turnover Survey 2008 by the CBI and insurer AXA revealed that of the 172 million sick days lost to absence in 2007, more than one in ten (12%) are thought to be non-genuine. These 21 million "sickies" cost the economy £1.6bn. Some employees' absences cannot be avoided of course, such as in the cases of serious personal or family member illness. These times of missed work can often be recognised as long in duration (defined as more than 1 or 2 days) on review of organisational records. However, research also indicates that an estimated 52% of total employee absences are discretionary in nature. These absences are the result of factors such as stress, personal needs, and entitlement mentality (VanDerWall, 1998).

Companies are addressing the money-drain of absenteeism in various ways. Some are introducing rewards schemes for employees not failing to come into work. General Motors implemented such a system some years ago and were not so