Absence management rather than stress management is the most pressing
workplace headache for UK HR managers.
A study by the journal IRS Employment Review has found that almost one in
five HR managers believed absence was the most difficult aspect of their work
last year.
In the public sector, the proportion of HR managers citing absence as the
single most challenging area of their work rose to nearly 30 per cent. And most
HR professionals – almost 90 per cent of the 432 managers polled – believed
line managers did not like managing absence.
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Its finding is backed by research in Occupational Health’s sister title Personnel
Today, which found that between 66 and 76 per cent of HR professionals believe
their line managers are ‘poor’ or ‘fair’ when it comes to absence management
and a range of other key skills.
