Managers are those groups of employees who are at the first level of line management.    Since the ordinary employees are directly under them,  these frontline managers have great influence on how employees perceive their own roles and their attitudes are toward the company they are working for.   The employees’ perception of the company and how they see the importance of each of their roles are critical to the success of the business.

          This is the exact reason why managers should have the right “ people skills ”  so as to motivate the staff and cope with difficult problems.    The managers must serve as the guide of the staff  so every employee would have a someone to look up to and turn to for coaching and support and for any questions relating to career development and direction.   Thus, a manager needs to be a good leader to be able to guide his staff  and a follower of company policies so that he will serve as a role model to his people.

           Work culture and good staff management  are powerful forces that affect staff retention.    It is to be remembered that employees who feel good about themselves and are satisfied of their roles and contribution to the business are likely to reflect this in the way they help drive the business forward.   In much the same way that poor people management skills  can also force the workers to resign.   Thus, it is vital that managers are trained to motivate, coach and supervise his people.

           As managers are in the frontlines directly handling the staff and encounters various problems every day,  for example, poor work ethics, various customer complaints, bad performance, low work productivity, etc., they must know exactly how to handle these problems, take appropriate action, and cope with stress at the end of the day.

           Studies show that almost two out of three employees who are absent are not physically ill.    Unjustified absences are one of the causes of low work productivity.   This is most often due to lack of firm staff policies and want of  good staff discipline.  

          For most companies, managing absenteeism falls directly unto the hands of the immediate supervisors or frontline managers.    This is due to the fact that the managers are the ones who would be most aware of the situation of their employees and would very well know the circumstances surrounding  the fact of the employees’ absence.    Also, the managers are in the best position to be aware of the problem as soon as it starts and also in the position to very well identify its causes.   Therefore, their active involvement in the company’s absence policy and disciplinary procedures  is vital to the effectiveness and success of these policies.

          Sadly, however, most supervisors and frontline managers have not received any guidance or training in managing absenteeism.   They have been left on their own and without any means to carry out the often unpopular task of identifying, confronting and resolving frequent absence abuse.

          To ensure that supervisors and frontline managers are comfortable and competent in their role of managing absenteeism, they need to have the full support of senior management.   All parties must be aware of the objectives of the absence policies and procedures.    If there are misunderstandings between departments, the policy is bound to lose its effectiveness.

           To be more consistent, the managers should also be trained to handle their staff who make it a habit of absenting themselves without reason, advised how to conduct effective return-to-work interviews, and educated in the use of disciplinary procedures when necessary.

          Managing absenteeism requires a firm company policy.    But, above everything else, it must have a “Plan B” is ever the problem persists.    It must ensure that the work of the absent employee is fully covered during his period of absence.   There should be a reliever to keep up with the work so as not to slow down productivity.

          Importantly, critical actions must be taken to instill to the employees that absence abuse will not be tolerated  and there are also appropriate steps to deter these unjustified absences.  Some of these are:

• Having a written and concretized absence policy program which provisions, including its disciplinary measures, must have been made known to the employees beforehand;
•  Confirming from the employee’s household when  the employee phones in sick for the day.  This will require a visit to the employee’s domicile.
•  Having a detailed record of absences which specifies the cause of the absence, medical record form the physician, days of absence, date of return and the like;
• Identifying patterns or trends of absence of employees and the actual cause or causes of these absence trends;
•  Conducting a thorough interview when the employee gets back; and
• Imposing sanctions for unjustified absences.