Personal Development

An insurance company has high levels of absenteeism among its staff. The head of administration argues that employees are misusing their leave benefits. However some female employees explained that their family matters interfere with office work. Using the MARS model, as well as your knowledge of absenteeism, discuss some of the possible reasons for absenteeism and how to reduce it. MARS Model seeks to explain individual behavior as a result of internal and external factors or influences acting together.

Individual behavior influenced by Motivation, Ability, Role perception and Situational factors (M. A. R. S). People are not motivated to come to work since they don't feel a sense of self-satisfaction in completing their tasks, they don't see room for advancement, don't feel that they are getting paid enough, and don't like their co-workers (or more likely their boss). The cost of absenteeism is extremely high. In able to diagnose absenteeism problem in the organization, a clearly distinction should be made between voluntary and involuntary absenteeism.

Voluntary absenteeism is when employees have a choice of working or not working and they intentionally decide to miss work. Involuntary absenteeism is when employees miss work for reason beyond their control. Some of the common reasons behind absenteeism are as under;

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• Serious accidents and illness
• Low morale
• Workload
• Employee discontent with the work environment
• Remuneration which continue returns during periods of illness or accident
• The continuation of income shield plans (collective agreement )
• Poor working conditions
• Boredom on the job Insufficient leadership and poor management
• Personal problems (financial, marital, substance abuse, child care etc. )
• Poor bodily fitness
• The existence of income protection plans (collective agreement )
• Transportation trouble
• Stress

There are numbers of strategies and approaches that can be adapted by organizations in order to reduce the level of absenteeism in their companies. According to Johnson et al. (2003), successful absenteeism management strategies begin with the belief that something can actually be done to reduce absenteeism.

Managers need to keep in mind that there is no "one-size-fits" all solution that is appropriate for all organizations. Every organization is unique and absenteeism reduction strategies should be customized to the particular work environment. Harris (2005) states that employers should distinguish between short- and long-term absence when dealing with the problem of absence. The author mentions that for short-term absence, an effective sickness absence policy should be implemented.

This policy should indicate the procedure to be followed as well as the possible consequences of unacceptable sick leave levels. For long term absences, an employer should keep record of these events as well as ensuring that medical certificates are supplied. In cases where employees' health is not improving and they are unable to perform their work, a fair incapacity process should be followed (Harris, 2005).

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