How to Design an Action Plan for Employee Attendance Improvement with an Attendance Management System?
There is no question that rest is essential for employees. The joy of taking a well-deserved break from work is a privilege no employee would likely refuse. After hectic work days, they reserve the right to enjoy some free time and it is their only way to recharge.
But if there is no proper plan around employee attendance and absences, things can look pretty awkward. Productivity will start to sink. Managers will become pressured to warn employees against taking leave and restrict permissions on the leave and attendance management system. When more pressure is placed on the employees around their liberty to take a day off and unwind, it can even lead them to experience decreased morale.
Whether you agree with it or not, improving employee attendance is one of the hardest tasks for HR departments across most organisations. According to a report published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Indian companies reported 8% average employee absenteeism. So, how can this be overcome in a way that doesn’t affect employee morale? This is where you need to think of an action plan to improve employee attendance.
Read this blog to discover what an employee attendance improvement plan is, why it is important, what it should contain and how to design a successful one.
What is an Employee Attendance Improvement Plan?
An Employee Attendance Improvement Plan (EAIP) is a strategy that an organisation work out in order to improve their employee's attendance or reduce excessive absenteeism at work. By creating an action plan to improve attendance and effectively utilising the online attendance management system, every organisation can ensure that there is more consistency in the attendance pattern and that they don’t have to worry about absenteeism, which is a major culprit causing productivity decline.
Importance of Employee Attendance Improvement Plan
The best way to know how important it is to have an action plan to improve employee attendance is to think of what happens when you don’t have one. Imagine that you don’t have a plan in place. Things can fall apart really fast.
Some folks start showing up whenever they feel like it, throwing in leave requests at the eleventh hour or just logging off the online attendance management system without warning. Before you know it, these last-minute bail-outs become the norm, and you're left scratching your head wondering how things got so out of hand. So you try to crack down too hard only to realise that it backfires big time.
Imagine a top-performing team member who never takes a day off suddenly facing a real emergency, but can't catch a break because of some over-the-top policy. Proves that enforcing super-strict rules all of a sudden doesn’t work but only ends up as a recipe for workplace tension.
Benefits of Having an Action Plan for Attendance Improvement
Working out an action plan to improve employee attendance jointly with an employee attendance management system can offer several benefits.
- Regular attendance leads to minimal instances of project delays due to staff shortages.
- Having a standard procedure for absence management helps ensure all employees are treated fairly.
- Absenteeism is a productivity killer. EAIP helps identify the causes of it and mitigate them.
- Reassuring every employee that their presence and contributions are crucial boosts their morale.
The 4 Pillars of a Strong Attendance Improvement Plan
Crafting a powerful employee attendance improvement plan that actually works isn't just about creating another workplace policy. It's about adopting a strategic approach that gets to the heart of employee engagement and organisational effectiveness. To make this happen, you'll need to focus on these four critical pillars.
Clear Attendance Policy:
Do you have an attendance policy that defines employee expectations – how many clocked-in hours they should maintain each day, the time threshold for clocking in and clocking out, and what corrective actions will happen in case the employees default on the policy? A clear attendance policy is a very important prerequisite for designing your attendance improvement plan.
Attendance Management System:
How do your employees mark their attendance, and breaks or apply for time off? If you don’t have a proper attendance management system, issues like incorrect reporting, time theft, and myriad other issues can pop up. The success of an EAIP thus relies heavily on the effectiveness of your attendance management system.
Review and Impact Analysis:
Let employees know how their frequent absences are affecting the company operations, productivity, team morale and workplace culture. A close analysis of how workplace’s attendance output over some time and presenting it with figures, emphasizing the outcome will help your folks realize the gravity of their absenteeism or tardiness and help them be more responsible towards the organizational objective.
Performance-Based Incentives:
The Pavlovian principle of conditioning isn't just a psychological theory—it's a powerful tool in shaping workplace behaviour, especially when it comes to attendance management. By strategically implementing rewards and recognition, you can effectively motivate employees to become more responsible and predictable in their time-off practices. Turn attendance into more than compliance—make it an opportunity to celebrate employee reliability.
Step-by-step Procedure to Design an Action Plan for Employee Attendance Improvement
Not sure where to start and what to factor to design your action for an employee attendance improvement? Here to the step-by-step process to guide you.
Revisit Your Attendance Policy and Revise It As Needed
Our surveys of several companies in India reveal an interesting insight: employee absenteeism is not exclusive to organizations without an attendance policy. In fact, most of the companies we surveyed had attendance policies in place, yet they reported absenteeism rates of 5 to 10 per cent. This shows that having an attendance policy alone may not be enough to curb absenteeism. If you find that absenteeism persists despite your policy, it’s time to revisit and revise it. Taking steps such as introducing greater flexibility and adopting powerful attendance management systems can make a significant difference.
Analyse Employee Attendance Performance over Time
What does your attendance data over time show? Does it uncover any pattern like seasonable fluctuations in attendance? Does it pinpoint any department that has higher absentee rates? Analysing employee attendance performance over time can help you with critical insights into your workplace dynamics. These findings can be very helpful in designing your attendance improvement plan and implanting targeted interventions and an attendance management system.
Identify Absence Patterns, Trends, and Underlying Causes
When you begin noticing patterns in employee absences, it’s like addressing two sides of the same coin. On one hand, you have real concerns to look into, but on the other, you have reasons to stay motivated because you’ve pinpointed something worth investigating. These trends are basically telling you something's up, and now you can rise to the occasion, dig into the underlying reasons, and put together effective solutions that can turn the situation around.
Outline Expectations and Potential Consequences
When designing an improvement plan, the onus is on explaining expectations and consequences. This is especially true with an attendance improvement plan. Employees are more likely to take accountability for unplanned absences when they fully understand the consequences of their actions.
This is not to sound like an intimidation or a one-sided approach. But rather to make it clear to them how their habitual absences will affect all other employees, not just the one being irresponsible. This is why ‘review and impact analysis’ is considered one of the pillars of a powerful employee attendance improvement plan.
Get Everyone On Board with the Attendance Management System
If you already have an attendance management system, great! You are several steps closer to enjoying the benefits of an employee attendance improvement plan. Just like implementing the plan itself, it is also important to apply it uniformly so that everyone is on the same page. If some employees are marking their attendance and applying for leave through the system while others are still using the old methods, you are likely not utilising it to its fullest potential. Therefore, getting everyone on board is critical.
If you haven't yet switched to a modern solution, consider trying a free attendance management system like Mewurk, which you can use on a trial basis for up to a year. Use this trial period to on-board all team members on the system, its usage guidelines, and the implementation of attendance policies.
Work In Some Flexibility at Work, Where Possible
Employees are fundamentally different from robots. They are prone to experiencing ups and downs in their days. Even on a scheduled workday, they may require some sort of flexibility. For instance, a dentist's appointment or a relative or friend stopping by to visit can necessitate accommodation.
As long as your employee is not compromising on the expected productivity goals, it shouldn't be a reason to enforce strict, rigid attendance policies. Depending on the nature of your business operation, factor in different types of flexible work arrangements, such as flexible shift schedules, occasional work from home, and shift swapping.
The Bottom Line
If you are struggling with a high degree of employee absenteeism and declining productivity as a result, it is high time you considered an employee attendance improvement plan. Remember, the effectiveness of an Employee Attendance Improvement Plan (EAIP) critically depends on your attendance management system as well. So ensure you have a robust system to support your initiatives. Enjoyed this blog? Let us know your takeaways in the comments section!
Considering an attendance management system? Try Mewurk for up to a year with a free biometric attendance tracker machine included. Contact us to get started!
Most Popular Post
Why Accurate Attendance and Leave Management Matters for Business Growth?
Read More →Why Accurate Attendance and Leave Management Matters for Business Growth?
How To Leverage Attendance Data For Better Workforce Management?
Read More →How To Leverage Attendance Data For Better Workforce Management?
