Wandering around work over the past few days has been a bit like wandering around a Ghost Town.
Absence has, inevitably, shot through the roof directly after the Christmas break, undoubtedly a combination of genuine illness, which is rife at this time of the year, and to a (hopefully) lesser degree due to those who may fancy an extended break without using their precious holiday entitlement.
Anytime we have more than a handful of people off, there is a particular Senior Manager who runs around shouting and screaming at HR, wanting everyone disciplined and for us to ‘sort the mess out’. It’s very much like watching a small child throw their toys out of the pram.
This always tickles me. Fair enough, absence is annoying, and I have fairly hard-line views on it. People who take time off with a runny nose will get very little respect from me, but likewise things do need to be put in perspective.
For a start, absence is not just an HR issue; it’s a company-wide issue. Perhaps the Senior Manager in question would like to direct some of his venom towards his Management team and enquire what they are doing to manage absence in their area?
Finally, he might like to calm down and consider the actual figures. Claiming that HR has allowed an absence problem to grow within the company is simply not supported by the facts. Our absence rate for the year was less than 4%. Yes, there is always room for improvement, but is less than 4% really what you would consider a massive issue?
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