New research carried out by HR consultants AdviserPlus has revealed 64% of HR professionals say that a poor workplace environment can ‘substantially’ contribute to sickness levels
The survey, which asked 300 HR professionals their opinions on the state of absenteeism in the UK, found that factors such as lifestyle and environment played a big part in the levels of absence in their workplace.
Absenteeism is said to cost the UK economy £18 billion a year, and an average sick day costs a company around £100 a day.
In order to reduce rates of unauthorised absence, 91% of respondents believe businesses should be more proactive in promoting a healthy lifestyle to employees whilst 87% said that flexitime could also reduce this number.
A good workplace environment could also have added benefits on top of solving this issue. Whilst a bad environment might discourage employees from coming to work, a good environment might not only help to avoid this sense of discouragement but also act as an encouragement, giving workers something positive and purposeful to go to.
The survey also found:
– Almost one in five (18%) respondents said that the average employee in their business has seven or more sick days a year (the national average is 4.1)
– 59% of respondents say employees take more sick days than they did a decade ago – even though this fell from 5.6 per employee in 2007 to 4.1 in 2017
– More than half (53%) say they feel tech could do more to help them monitor absenteeism
Nick Bradley, CEO, from AdviserPlus has commented on the statistics: “Finding creative ways to boost the workplace environment can be a proactive way to reduce absenteeism. Benefits such as flexible working, generous holiday allowance and areas in which employees can switch off can not only reduce unauthorised absences but increase productivity.
Absence trends are generally going down – despite perceptions among some people. It’s important to recognise there is often a valid reason for cases of absenteeism and it’s our job as HR professionals to understand these reasons and work with employees to solve them.
The survey was carried out in support of a new eBook entitled “The Absenteeism Report 2018: Causes, consequences and cures. The report gauges the current state of play in HR and assesses what needs to change if businesses are to manage absence more effectively in the future.
The eBook is available as a free download by clicking here – https://info.adviserplus.com/request-absenteeism-report-2018
