Consistent Employee Absenteeism – Term Paper

As the project manager of HiTech, I have been observing habitual absenteeism of several workers. Absenteeism is a major problem facing many companies in the world and can cost the business fortunes. It brings financial implications to a firm as well as repercussions on the production. The absent worker is replaced by either hiring a temporary somebody or a staff member working overtime. Job satisfaction and the pressure to go to work usually interact to determine motivation and attendance. Re-current absenteeism can be an indicator of the employee’s intent to leave the job (Langdon et al. 2016).

The attitude of the employee towards their work is crucial. If workers are satisfied with their job and feel appreciated at the work place, they will have the enthusiasm to come to the workplace. If the work environment presents negative attitudes to the employee, they are also bound to react by regularly missing from their jobs. There are certain perceived negative attitudes such as low pays that may negatively affect the rate of employee turn up to the workplace (Langdon et al. 2016). Also, if the employee feels that they were unrightfully denied a promotion, it may create a negative attitude towards the job and, therefore, will not have the enthusiasm to attend their job. The degree to which the employees perceive that the organization values their daily contribution is another factor that many employees consider. If they feel that their input is not being appreciated at the workplace, they will lack the zeal to attend their jobs. These are some of the important issues that HiTech owners should consider so as to establish the cause of increased absenteeism in their company.

Recommendations

I would first recommend the management to consider emphasizing on task-related procedures. By use of these processes, there is assurance that every member contributes fully towards the achievement of the team’s goals. Virtual teams that incorporate task processes have proved to perform better than collocated teams, despite the distance separation. I would then recommend HiTech managers to implement mechanisms that will promote task-related and socio-economic procedures in the virtual teams. The task related systems should focus on the expertise and skills of the members of these groups. Additionally, the HiTech managers should arrange for face-to-face meetings for members of the virtual teams. This method is crucial in instigating and upholding social processes that promote team identification, cohesion, and informal communication among the members. The meetings may be held at the beginning of a project, so that members can be familiar with one another.

As the project manager, I would also like the owners to reward those who attend their work diligently and consequently punish those employees with poor attendance to work. It can be achieved through establishing a system whereby the employees are tagged with a fixed number of days when they should be absent. Those who cross this limit suffer the consequences while the rest are rewarded for their efforts. Implementation of certain programs such as stress management, fitness plans, and exercise breaks will also help deal with the issue of absenteeism. Owners of HiTech can go ahead and even establish strategic policies that limit the workers from spending their personal time in the workplace. This method will help strike a balance between work and non-work time. HiTech owners may opt to implement temporary strategies such as job sharing, part-time jobs, and flexi-time schedules where employees will be leaving the workstations once they attain the set objectives. Lastly, I would recommend the HiTech owners to halt expanding their operation base prior to dealing with the current predicaments. Adding other entities at this time may not be necessary because the existing problems may be transferred to the new branches and may become fatal in the long run.

Challenges in Implementing the Recommendations

Every implementation process is faced with its challenges. The limitations that may halt implementation of the indicated recommendations include:

1. The costs involved

Every implementation of new strategies or recommendations comes at a cost. Putting into action all these proposals will come at a price that may seem too high to the owners. For this reason, the company must prioritize on what to forego so as to implement these recommendations.

2. Rejection by the workers

The workers of the company may fail to accept some of these changes especially if they are done abruptly without their consent. The culture of a company is also hard to change all over sudden. It may slightly or completely alter what the employees deem as their chosen ways at their workstations.

3. Time

Time is one crucial factor in the implementation of any set strategies. The effects of the HiTech organizational problems have already caused some grievous dents on the image of the company such as loss of expert designers. Implementing some of these proposed recommendations may take time, therefore, denying the company the chance to get back into business swiftly.