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Last updated: 22 June 2006
Turned Up and Tuned In: A manager’s guide to maximising staff attendance
2. Prevention is better than cure - What you can do
Did you know?
- A certain level of workplace absence is normal for the maintenance of a healthy workforce and for supporting family friendly practices and work/life balance
- Organisational culture can be described as the waythings are done around here. It is what employees perceive or experience on a day–to–day basis at work to be accepted or rewarded
- Adversarial workplaces, indicated by low supervisor and OH&S support, job insecurity, ambiguity and boredom, contribute to workplace absence
- In relation to psychological injury claims, work pressure accounts for around 50% and harassment and bullying 25%10
- Up to 60% of psychological injury claims are preventable by improving morale, leadership and work team climate11
Tips
Recognise the strong relationship between attendance and a positive and rewarding work environment
Cultivate a culture and management style that makes your workplace safe, engaging and fulfilling for all
Manager’s Prevention Checklist
Management style
- Maintain an approachable and supportive style
- Invest time in getting to know your staff
- Remain open to alternative ways of working
- Respect your staff by ensuring a workplace that is fair, flexible, safe and rewarding
Management practices
- Ensure staff have the necessary equipment to do their job and attend to any required workplace modifications and/or OH&S concerns promptly
- Involve your team in workplace matters and decisions
- Provide time for breaks and to socialise
- Keep track of absences and leave approved
- Acknowledge good attendance
- Encourage the regular use of recreation leave
- Attend to staff safety by ensuring ill or injured staff are not compelled to be at work
Communication
- Send positive messages that convey attendance does matter and that staff welfare is a key concern
- Frame your discussions on leave policies as employee benefits rather than as entitlements
- Sell the ‘insurance’ factor of personal leave—the ‘peace of mind’ a bank of leave can provide
Workflow
- Streamline workflow and avoid duplication
- Monitor work demands and review priorities so they remain realistic
Job design
- Provide staff with opportunities to utilise their skills and task preferences
- Consider the individual’s work values, career goals and development needs
- Enrich jobs with meaningful work, variety and control of whole tasks
Recruitment
- Ensure advertisements reflect the real workplace and job
- Discuss attendance expectations with potential recruits
- Check with referees the impact of attendance generally on the individual’s performance, noting specific details cannot be revealed in keeping with privacy legislation
- Consider the individual’s ‘fit’ with the APS Values, as well as their capability and experience, in line with the merit principle
Induction and Probation
- Use the induction process to establish effective working relationships and clarify attendance expectations
- Use the probation period to observe attendance patterns and to identify and address concerns early if they arise
Performance management
- Include attendance in performance agreements and discuss at appraisals
- Focus on development to build staff confidence to perform
- Regularly acknowledge good performance, successes and achievements
10 Comcare, Working Well, An Organisational Approach to Preventing Psychological Injury, A guide for Corporate, HR and OHS Managers, 2005, p. 9
11 Cotton P, address to Comcare/Health Services Australia conference, Better Health at Work: Preventing Psychological Injury,Canberra, August 2004
