More than half of call centres are not achieving their sickness absence targets, according to a recent report.
The annual survey by the Professional Planning Forum shows that 56% of centres are failing on their absence targets – although this is down from 72% last year.
Two out of three firms believe their sickness absence is satisfactory or better, and one-third use their target absence figures to plan staffing resources.
Key reasons for improvements in the past 12 months include robust management policies, consistent treatment of employees and improved work-life balance.
Professional Planning Forum director Steve Woosey said that resource planners were making a difference to absence rates.
“The large proportion of resource planners (83%) who believe they can influence absence rates represents a huge shift from last year; it is clear that our message that planners can make a real difference is achieving results,” he said.
The survey analysed results from 136 respondents from all industry sectors during January 2007.
