Contemporary HR Issues: Absenteeism
Throughout World War II (1941-1945), psychology have been applied to address to different industrial concerns at that time. The applications include the use of employement tests, techniques on selection, training and design. One of the evident issues of that time was absenteeism. Absenteeism became one of the major problems in the workforce and psychologists were asked to help lessen this case (Muchinsky, 2006).
As Muchinsky continues, absenteeism causes decreased efficiency equivalent to companies’ increased payroll costs and benefit payments (2006, p.19). As a bigger effect, employers lose billions of dollars which could have been used for larger investments and improvements. The causes of absenteeism have been found to have social, organizational and personal sources and affects industries, organizations and labour force.
Organizations have specific allotted time for an employee’s absence from work. However, excessive absenteeism, may it be personal problems, family issue or health related, is always perceived as negative. Although excused absence is allowed, employees often conceal and deviate from the original reason for their absence and tend to give more socially acceptable explanations (Muchinsky, 2006 p. 128). Consequently, self-reports on being absent can be highly inaccurate. During these situations deceptions and lies are used (e.g. making up stories to uplift self-image during interviews) as excuses for absenteeism and to avoid any possible punishments (Hart, et. al., 2006).
Absenteeism is one of the most commonly used indices to gather information for accomplishing performance appraisals (Muchinsky, 2006). It is also considered the most sensitive measure of performance. An employee can be judged with poor performance because of excessive number of unexcused absences. However, the measurement and interpretation of absenteeism tend to be vague. In some cases, a person with many unexcused absences would be rated higher in performance appraisal than a person with fewer absences. This may be affected by factors such as seniority and job level (Muchinsky, 2006).
Muchinsky also considered absenteeism as a temporary withdrawal behaviour (2006, pp. 222). This reflects the employee’s avoidance or temporary abandonment of his current employment condition. Research shows that people who don’t have high preference for their jobs are more likely to have unexcused absences. However, this reason shares the list with other unavoidable situations which can come across the employee at any random time (e.g. family and road emergencies). Pelted ; Xin (1999) have found mood can affect withdrawal behaviour and that positive affect can reduce absenteeism.
In relation to occupational health, flexible working hours has also been found to reduce absenteeism (Muchinsky 2006, pp. 368). Flexible working, or famously called flextime, creates an alternative to employees’ fixed working schedule by giving them freedom to choose the time of their arrival at work. It has also been found that flextime reduces rates of tardiness in employees.
Aside from flextime, compressed workweek has been shown to have positive results in reducing rates of absenteeism (Muchinsky 2006, pp. 369). Compressed workweek involves increased work hours per day and fewer days per week (e.g. ten hours per week instead of eight and five days of work instead of six).
Experts have attributed 50% of employee absenteeism on drug and alcohol abuse (Muchinsky, pp. 319). This cause of lower job performance is also the leading cause of accidents, theft and skill decay in the workplace. Hollinger (1988) concluded that job dissatisfaction causes individuals (specifically men under 30 years old) to resort to alcohol and drug use during the time of employment. To resolve this, another research by Wrich (1988) discusses how Drug Testing Initiatives (DUI) can help drug users be productive in their jobs and further reduce absenteeism in the workplace.
Different scenarios in the place of work like accidents and harassments are usually very traumatic in the case of the employee involved. These negative experiences can lead to the absence of an employee to evade disturbing flashbacks and possible unhelpful outcomes. According to a 2007 issue of Occupational Health, institutions offering post trauma management have been found to decrease absences from employees who have experienced trauma.
However, as much as organizations make an effort in trying to minimize absenteeism, most companies have been found lacking measures for the reduction of absenteeism. One article from Occupational Health (2007) states that bosses of the said organizations, who spoke in defense, believe that employees themselves don’t put much significance on their wellbeing and cared more on other benefits.
The Equity Theory of Motivation describes that when an employee experiences underpayment inequity or a feeling of being unfairly paid, this can eventually lead to job discontent. Increased job dissatisfaction as a result of underpayment inequity would also increase absenteeism (Muchinsky, 2006). This is explained by the mentality that it is better to be absent than do one’s job and get less of what one deserves to get.
These information on the major causes of absenteeism in organizations would provide bases for managers in devising measures to reduce the increasing rates of non-attendance by employees. It is important to know how other organizations have successfully dealt with this issue and how others lack preventive measures and resolution techniques towards absenteeism. It should also be noted that welfare of employees should be a priority because they are the frontliners of the organization.
Managers should be aware that absenteeism is a sign that something is wrong (Bluedorn, 1982), whether it be on the individual’s part or the organization itself. For this reason, solutions should be formulated in order to get to the bottom of the problem, keep a healthier work environment for the employees and get the industry going.
Bibliography
Bluedorn, A. 1982. ‘Managing Turnovers Strategically’, Business Horizons, vol. , no., pp., viewed 25 May 2007, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost.
Hart, C., Hudson, L., Fillmore, D., and Griffith, J. 2006. ‘Managerial Beliefs about the Behavioral Cues of Deception’, Individual Differences Research, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 176-184, viewed 25 May 2007,Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost.
Hollinger, R.1988. ‘Working Under the Influence (WUI): Correlates of Employees’ Use of Alcohol and Other Drugs’, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 439-454.
Muchinsky, P. 2006 Psychology Applied to Work: An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Wadsworth: North Carolina.
‘Organizations lack policies to cut absence’, 2007, Occupational Health, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 4-4, viewed 25 May 2007, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost.
Pelted, L. & Xin, K. 1999. Down and Out: An Investigation of the Relationship between Mood and Employee Withdrawal Behavior, Journal of Management, vol. 25, no. 6.
‘Prompt trauma management can reduce employee absence’, 2007,Occupational Health, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 5-5, viewed 25 May 2007, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost.
Wrich, J. 1988. ‘Beyond Testing: Coping With Drugs at Work’, EAP Digest, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 55-63.