I would like to bring your attention to two of the most pressing concerns that we have been facing in our organization with regards to our workforce: absenteeism and employees reporting to work late. After extended internal research, I have compiled this report to identify the internal and external factors contributing towards these problems. Towards the end of the report I have included certain recommendations that can be implemented to resolve these issues and improve the company’s bottom line.
Employee Absenteeism
As Figure 1 illustrates, transportation and poor health are the primary reasons due to which the company has been experiencing increased incidence of absenteeism . The second most reported reason is that employees take sick days when they are unwell. A very small number reported a lack of job satisfaction as a major reason of feeling demotivated and not coming in to work even when they are well. The 10% absenteeism is the only approved absenteeism.
Figure 1: Reason of Employee Absenteeism
Further research was conducted to determine if this was a department-specific issue or an organization wide problem. A review of attendance records between 2012 and 2015 showed that 3 departments had the worst record in terms of attendance as illustrated in Figure 2. All 3 departments reported a marked increase between 2014 and 2015.
Figure 2: Employee Absenteeism across Departments
Employees Reporting Late For Work
Figure 3 illustrates that the rush hour traffic is the most commonly cited reason due to which our employees are unable to reach in time. Given the remote location of the company, they have limited public transportation options, since the majority of them do not have a personal bike or car. Again, the lack of job satisfaction emerged as a common grievance .
Figure 3: Reasons of Employees Reporting Late to Work
Research also revealed that while there was an increase in late coming across the organization, it is the employees working at the managerial level that are late consistently, followed by supervisors and laborers, in descending order as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Late Coming across Hierarchical Levels
Solutions to Reduce Absenteeism
If the company decides to provide a designated transportation service for its employees, either free of cost or at nominal rates, then this will, in my opinion, substantially reduce absenteeism . This is because as evidenced in Figure 1, lack of reliable transportation is a primary reason. A more long-term solution would be to medical coverage and regular health audits to maintain the well-being of the workforce.
Solutions to Reduce Late Employee Arrivals
Implementing an organizational transportation service recommended in the previous heading will contribute in reducing late comings as well. However, since Figure 3 highlights that it is the managers who are late most typically (refer to Figure 4), and most of them have their own cars, the issue of job dissatisfaction needs to be addressed. One way of doing this would be giving increments at least annually, a practice that has thus far been largely ignored. Reducing working hours will also help employees being on time for work the following day .
Works Cited
Cucchiella, Federica. "The Causes And Costs Of Absenteeism In The Workplace." Forbes 10 July 2013: 2-5. Print.
Munro, Leonie. "Absenteeism and presenteeism: possible causes and solutions." The South African Radiographer (2007): 1-10. Print.
