Turned Up and Tuned In: A manager’s guide to maximising staff attendance

Shared experiences

A story about trust and employee privacy

A manager told of a staff member who suffered from a chronic medical condition. Until the diagnosis and commencement of correct treatment the staff member had taken a significant amount of unplanned leave during which the manager had been supportive. As a result, the trust between the manager and staff member developed to such a point that the staff member was readily sharing information and progress with the manager. The manager, in turn, was able to better steer the team’s workflow and priorities.

On receiving the diagnosis the manager moved quickly to inform the team. Conflict arose when the staff member returned to work and found their condition being openly discussed by others. The manager had wrongly assumed the information could be shared without first obtaining the staff member’s explicit consent. Following the manager’s lead, the team wrongly assumed they too could discuss their colleague’s condition, which exacerbated the breach of the staff member’s privacy.

A story about responsibility and managers’ delegations

A manager told of the challenging time when new to the public service. The requirements to manage and report on the group’s budget, processes and customer satisfaction were so great they delegated control of the day to day staff matters to a senior team member, this included managing staff leave.

The manager found out a few months later through HR that only the agency head has the authority to formally delegate people management responsibilities. HR advised the data on the human resource information system showed none of the group’s employees to have taken any leave since the manager began in the role.

On checking with the senior team member, the manager found no written records of absences had been kept, as it had been assumed staff would attend to the paperwork in their own time. This left the manager needing to invest considerable time to address the gaps in record keeping and administration.

A story about retention and workplace flexibility

A manager shared the successful approach taken when a top performing staff member was about to resign due to the need to relocate interstate. Given the independent nature of the work and the staff member’s success working occasionally from home, the manager proposed the staff member not resign but continue in the role working continuously from home.

The arrangement worked well with the manager and staff member maintaining regular contact by telephone and email. Two years later the staff member and family relocated back and the staff member returned to the previous work schedule.

A story about management style and workplace support

A manager shared the initiatives taken when inheriting a team with chronic absence problems. The manager found many of the problems revolved around numerous staff members’ ability to attend. As these had endured for some time without workplace support the rest of the staff had become disengaged.

The manager held meetings with each staff member, where they discussed attendance patterns, expectations and the staff member’s individual circumstances. Each meeting concluded in a plan to move forward which they regularly reviewed together. The manager also coordinated an on-site presentation by the agency’s employee assistance programme provider to assist staff in appreciating the support services available.

Lastly, the manager volunteered to be included in the annual manager 360 degree feedback programme, openly encouraged staff to participate and made changes to management style and approach based on the feedback.

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