Absenteeism
from Vague Job Descriptions
In
today's "wired workplace" where people seem to be working all the
time, more U.S.
employees than ever are too stressed out to make it to work, or feel entitled to
regularly take "mental health days," according to a new survey. This
lost productivity translates into higher costs for employers and higher prices
for consumers. The solution is to create a level playing field for employees and
get them involved in the process of fixing the problem.
Absenteeism
is fueled by a troubling sense that workers are burning out, according to a
report released Oct. 2 by CCH, Inc., a Chicago publishing and research firm,
Unscheduled absences cost employers an average of $602 a year per employee, CCH
said.
The
survey of human resources managers at 305 companies representing nearly 800,000
employees showed that most workers who are away from the job on short notice are
not sick but are staying home because of stress, family issues, personal
needs or because they simply felt they deserved a day off.
Some
of the most effective ways of combating sudden absences were not well used by
employers surveyed. One way to combat absences is using a system of accurate and
up-to-date job descriptions written by the employees themselves, said John King,
president of the Indiana Roster Network of CPAs and professional-services firms.
"When employees create their own job description, they feel more in
control, which can reduce stress and the associated costs of burnout and casual
absenteeism," King sat& The process also tends to point out inequities
that may be hidden in the organizational structure, which creates the
entitlement mentality that leads employees to play hooky. The process of
creating these job descriptions also opens doors for honest communications
between workers and their managers.
Mid-sized
businesses with between 1,000 and 2,400 workers were hit hardest by increased
absenteeism in the last year, noting a 51 percent increase in the CCH study.
Small employers with 99 or fewer
workers made the most progress, with a 76 percent decrease in absenteeism.
Health care was the industry suffering most, followed by universities and
government.
The
most disturbing findings of the survey were the reasons that human resources
managers found for unplanned days off. Stress, which accounted for only 6
percent of absenteeism is 1995, jumped to 19 percent in 1999. What CCH dubbed
"entitlement mentality," or a feeling by workers that they are
entitled to a day off, rose from 9 percent in 1995 to 19 percent in 1999. Only
21 percent of the absent workers were sick, down from 45 percent in 1995.
With
so many absent employees, companies are looking for solutions to the problem of
absent, ism and its effect on productivity and performance.
"It's
easy to understand how an employer or supervisor can overlook sudden absences of
an employee without on-going measurement of performance and addressing
employee burnout," says King. "Many companies address the
problem by using a one-page job description that communicates what is expected
of each employee in clear and consistent terms."
Isn't
the idea of allowing employees to write their own job descriptions akin to
having the fox guard the hen-house? Not at all, as it turns out.
King
said most employers using this system have found that the employee written job
descriptions are more critical, candid and accurate than the job descriptions
written by their supervisors. This self-produced job description process creates
an opportunity for employees to tell their side of the story. "A lot of
managers talk about empowerment. This is true empowerment. And guess
what: It works! When workers ate made part of the process, they axe less likely
to feel the need to exploit the system by taking sick days when they are
not ill."
King said that the process of creating job descriptions allows managers to recognize employee burnout. It also creates the opportunity for objective and fair communication between employees and management.