Absenteeism.

A word that is frequently thrown around the workplace, but do we actually know what it means? And do we understand what can be done to reduce it?

Let’s take a little look into what it really means for businesses…

Absenteeism is the practice of regularly staying away from work without good reason and is commonly recognised as impacting on the overall running of a business.
This can include individual productivity, team performance, company profits and, most importantly, employee health and wellbeing.

On average, UK businesses lose a staggering 6.9 days* a year, per employee as a result of absenteeism.

There are a number of causes of Absenteeism, too many that we can’t name them all right now, but the most common causes include:

Personal Issues
Bullying / Harassment
Mental Health Problems
Stress / Burned out
Low Morale
Home or Family responsibilities

Not quite what you expected? We thought the same.

Being absent from work doesn’t always mean an employee is feeling under the weather – and research suggests that absenteeism is costing the average UK business a whopping £554* per employee, shocking right?

However, we shouldn’t be too quick to discipline those who are frequently off.
Instead, we can take a look at any patterns in an employee’s absence, consider the potential reasons behind their time off and look to implement ways we can reduce it.

Even though as a CEO, HR Manager or even Team Leader, we are sometimes unable to help employees with certain situations there’s nothing stopping us from creating an atmosphere which encourages our employees to enjoy spending time at work and introduce initiatives to help make them feel at home (something we all feel here at the Paycare offices!).

Did you know – there are ways to help manage and reduce absenteeism whilst still taking care of your employees’ health and wellbeing? A double whammy!

Get Creative!

With a little bit of workplace creativity and innovation, you can provide low cost, and even FREE, benefits for your staff which will go a long way towards improving overall attendance. Considering the stats we’ve quoted above, it’s definitely a valuable investment!

So, we explore some of our favourite, and most effective, low-cost benefits you can introduce to increase staff productivity,  participation and morale – all whilst encouraging your team to feel fulfilled, respected, valued and happy (and maybe even feel like they’re missing out by not being in work!) – sounds worth it to us!

So, what have we got?

• Fruit Delivery – Having fresh fruit delivered once a week encourages healthy eating and starts Monday the right way!
• Monthly Massage – Find a mobile masseuse, schedule a 20-minute massage per employee, per month, and let your employees sit back and relax!
• 5-year loyalty additional holiday – We believe loyalty deserves recognition – it’s a no brainer!
• Birthday Leave – Because who wants to wake up early on their birthday?
• Celebrate work anniversaries – Order pizza, write a card or even throw a team party – make your colleagues feel appreciated and hopefully they’ll stay for another year!
• Online discount platform – Give your employees the gift of cheap cinema tickets, discounted gym memberships, days out and even money off the weekly grocery shop. There’s plenty of options out there – and did you know, here at Paycare, our very own Paycare Perks comes as standard with our Additions and 4Work Cash Plans? Check it out here!
• Wellness Wednesday – From mental health training days to healthy eating and nutrition workshops, get an expert in to educate your staff and provide them with tips they can take home for the family too!
• Flexibility / Remote working days – 58% of employees believe that working away from the office would help them become more motivated –so why not allow staff to work from home, trust your staff and this benefit will go from what’s seen as low cost to FREE!
• 24/7 GP – With increasing GP waiting times and our own busy lives it can be difficult to get medical support when we need it. Our GP 24/7 service can give your employees access to a qualified GP 24 hours a day, helping them feel better and get back to work more quickly. Find out more here!
• A happiness day, mental health day or even a duvet day – they can all do wonders for our mental wellbeing.
  Why not surprise your staff by handing them an extra day off in the form of a voucher – you’ll be surprised what an impact it will have one morale and productivity later down the line!
• Counselling support – We all go through tough times, whether it’s at home or work. Why not show your staff how much you care about their health and wellbeing by offering them access to an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). From help dealing with depression, stress and anxiety, to alcohol abuse, family or relationship issues and even legal advice, the service is available when your team need it the most. Talk to us or visit our EAP page for details.
• Breakfast on the Boss! – The next-to-nothing cost of a small breakfast can go a long way in showing your team how much they are appreciated – not just by the people they work with day-to-day, but by the boss!
• Introduce an Employee Wellbeing Plan – Perfecto! The ultimate way to look after and reward you staff for a small cost – they’ll love you for it!
  Here at Paycare our Health Cash Plans give employees the opportunity to claim back up to 100% of the cost of their everyday healthcare treatments, up to an annual limit, along with access to our Confidential Counselling Helpline, 24/7 GP and online discount platform – with plans starting from as little as a fiver a month per employee!

So, there are just a FEW low-cost and brilliantly effective ways you can help reduce absenteeism and help your employees LOVE being at work. Will you be giving any of these a try this year?

Show your employees how much YOU appreciate them! 🧡

Share your ideas

We think it’s great to shout about how you treat, reward and look after your team’s health and wellbeing – so now we’ve shared our favourite low-cost ideas, tell us yours by getting in touch!

Drop us a tweet, Facebook message us or even email us at marketing@paycare.org

We’d love to hear from you! 😊

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References:
www.recruitment-international.co.uk
https://www.powwownow.co.uk/smarter-working/flexible-working-statistics-2017/