Your business can’t function if your people don’t show up. Reliability and absenteeism is a major pain point for many small business owners.
This issue is not a quick fix. In order to see improvements over the long term, you’ll need to build a culture where reliability is valued, and employee well-being is a priority. It’s a balancing act, and not an easy one.
People will not do their best work for you if they’re not allowed to take care of themselves and their family. You didn’t hire robots, you hired people.
That said, there are some things you can do to make things better. To address your absenteeism problem, try these five steps.
1. Coverage
The most urgent issue is what to do when someone misses work. Do you have enough people with enough availability to cover for them? How is coverage assigned, and/or do they have the authority to find their own coverage? Are your people cross-trained, or does the whole operation shut down because nobody knows what to do when Mary catches the flu? Create a workable system — because if you can’t plan for absences, your business model needs tweaking.
2. Review policy
Your hours-of-work, absenteeism, late-to-work, work-from-home, coverage, time-off-request, medical-leaves, disability-protections, and disciplinary-action portions of policy will all have some bearing on this issue. Is it clear what constitutes an unexcused absence? Is it clear what the consequences are? Consider each point carefully with the issues of reliability and employee well-being in mind, and make updates. Then be sure to share these clear guidelines with all existing employees and every new employee that walks in the door.
3. Metrics
Make data-driven decisions. How often are people on time and present for their shifts? Report quarterly on an individual and company basis so that you can track improvement and notice when a problem crops up. This way you can say “Hey Hank, I notice you’re late to work at a much higher rate this quarter. This is unusual for you. What’s going on?”
4. Communicate
If you aren’t meeting regularly 1:1 with your employees, you should be. Talk to them. Tell them how they’re doing. Care about them. Hold them accountable and support them. This is not a waste of time — this is your job. If someone is late or absent too much, they need to hear that directly from you in a 1:1 setting. Use specific dates and examples and tell them your expectations for the future. If it continues to happen, write them up according to your policies and let them know that they’ll be let go if it happens again.
5. Screen for reliability
- Update your interview questions to address absenteeism.
- Only consider applicants who have been reliable in the application and interview process. Eliminate candidates who don’t do what they say they’re going to do.
- Look back at interview notes & communications for your most reliable employees. See if you can learn anything from that.
- Look for candidates with a consistent job history, no inexplicable gaps in resume, and who spent longer than a few months at each job.
- Reference checks can sometimes be helpful for this purpose, depending on who and how many you contact and how forthright they are.
I hope you take the time to try these — see how they land and let me know how it went at rachelle@thrivehrstudio.com. I’d love to hear.
This article is not a substitute for legal advice. If you have a legal concern please contact a licensed attorney.
