Absence is the commencement of the journey to improved productivity for all organisations. There are two main types of absence:
Planned Leave
Planned leave such as annual leave is used as a critical recharge period for employees. It helps with rest and relaxation which in turn improves engagement and productivity. It is essential that these are blocks of leave for a period of two weeks or more. Evidence has also shown that it is important that employees have blocks of leave to mitigate any risk of fraud especially in critical roles within an organisation. It also means that there needs to be an adequate succession planning and cross-training which is a side benefit of planned leave periods as it mitigates core dependency.
Unplanned leave
Unplanned leave such as sick or personal leave is also critical as it is an indicator of a number of key risks within a business. There is always a running level of unplanned leave within an organisation, it is important to understand this. However, it is important to understand the anomalies and trends that fall outside what is deemed as a normal level for an industry. They can point to changes in stress levels due to seasonal demand, serial absence trends such as extending public holidays or around major sports events, or a change in management impacting on an individual or team. Knowing that these are occurring and creating risk mitigation strategies will improve workplace productivity.
Understanding planned and unplanned leave
It is important to understand planned and unplanned leave trends for a number of key reasons:
Engagement Levels
High levels of unplanned leave can highlight poor levels of employee engagement which impacts directly on service delivery and customer experience.
Resource Controls
When various employees are away absent there is a resource offset that needs to occur (eg someone has to pick up the slack). When this is short term and infrequent the risks are minimal. However when they are for a prolonged period or high frequency the productivity loss to an organisation is very high. Understanding absence patterns allows organisations to better plan resource loads and understand how to smooth the productivity pipeline.
Employee Training
By having an adequate leave strategy organisations can focus on training and cross-skilling to further mitigate key employee risks.
Change Management
Organisations often go through periods of change without considering the full impact these can have on employees. A change from on role to another or from one manager to another can severely impact on productivity. Monitoring absence allows for a better understanding of the change management process and can alleviate pressure points.
Financial Outcomes
In the end absence creates a financial exposure for any organisation. Absence analytics can enable organisations to understand the financial impacts of lost productivity and focus setting policies and standards that mitigate the risks.
Where does your organisation fit on the absence risk matrix?
How can Crucial Analytics help you?
We can help you with all the below and more:
- Modelling the financial burden of unplanned leave
- Linking absence data to safety and workers’ compensation information
- Providing interdepartmental or cost centre based comparisons
- Linking absence data to engagement
- Providing comprehensive monitoring reports and tools
