Is sickness absence having a costly effect on your business?
Do you feel comfortable having conversations with your employees about their sickness absence? Do your managers know how to conduct effective return to work meetings?
Personnel Today magazine (2019) stated ‘more active management of sick leave could save the UK economy £56 billion each year in lost time, management costs and productivity losses’. Do you know how much sickness absence costs your organisation and do you know how to reduce it?
Looking after your employees
Frequent and unmanaged absence not only has a damaging effect on your costs and productivity, it can also have an adverse effect on your employee engagement too. Employees that are left to pick up the extra work caused by another member of the team being regularly absent will find their happiness and productivity in the workplace negatively affected as a result. It is important all your employees feel valued while at work.
At Dakota Blue Consulting, we believe that effective sickness absence management in any organisation starts with having a robust, clear written sickness absence policy in place. This policy will clarify
- Expected standards of attendance
- Reporting requirements
- Sick pay information
- Recording procedures etc
Training your people managers
The next step is to ensure all your people managers are trained in absence management including how to take absence calls from employees, how to interpret medical certificates and how to carry out effective return to work meetings. It is important that they understand how to implement your policy fairly and consistently and that they are clear on the relevant employment law that surrounds the management of absence cases.
Our expert Consultant HR Directors can support you with your sickness absence management needs by
- Working with you to develop a personalised sickness absence policy that suits your company culture and requirements
- Training your management team in sickness absence management and how to hold effective return to work meetings
- Mentoring and supporting your management team through any complicated cases they may have
- Supporting you to hold those difficult conversations with an employee regarding their absence or capability
- Working with you to develop your key absence performance indicators and ways to reduce your absence levels
If you would like to learn more about how we can help you to reduce or manage your absence, please contact us.