Key Tools To Manage Absenteeism And Create More Dynamic Schedules

Remaining flexible is key in today’s ever-evolving work environment

Over the past 18 months, HR teams have had to remain agile in terms of managing their employees, whether it was adjusting to a remote workforce model or implementing new safety guidelines for workforces who could not work from home. As Covid-19 swept through the country last spring and new variants continue to mutate, HR departments were required to more diligently manage absenteeism when employees could not work due to illness, caring for kids when schools closed or caring for loved ones who contracted the virus. On top of this, as travel restrictions were put into place, HR teams began noticing that employees were not taking their allotted PTO, leaving them feeling overworked and burnt out.
 

HR leaders understand that remaining flexible is key in today’s ever-evolving work environment. To better manage their workforces and ensure employees can achieve better work-life balance, HR teams can take advantage of tools that help manage absenteeism more effectively while creating more dynamic schedules. Here’s how.

Encourage PTO Use for a Healthier Work Environment 

According to an IPX1031 study, 92% of employees canceled, postponed or avoided booking a trip in 2020 due to Covid-19. And, although 2020 was a chaotic and challenging year, unused vacation time has previously been common—a Priceline survey revealed that only 30% of employees used all their PTO in 2019. As lockdowns and travel restrictions have resulted in limited vacation options, HR teams can encourage employees to take advantage of PTO to:
 

• Decrease levels of burnout: Spring Health research shows that 76% of employees feel burnt out, and 33% of those respondents said that insufficient paid time-off contributed to their feelings of burnout. When employees have sufficient vacation and sick time, they can decompress, explore interests and hobbies and take better care of themselves and their families. Once they return to work, they feel more refreshed and well-rested with a renewed perspective that they may not have had before. 
• Increase productivity: Employees who feel burnt out or stressed may become distracted at work, which decreases their productivity. They may also be less likely to connect or engage with their team members, which could result in lower team productivity or morale. When provided with ample PTO, employees can pay attention to areas of their life outside of work, prompting them to be more focused on their job-related goals upon their return.  
• Lower healthcare expenses: According to Harvard University, workplace stress costs U.S. companies up to $190 billion in additional healthcare costs annually. By giving employees the opportunity to take a vacation—or mental health days—employers are supporting their workforce’s overall wellbeing.

HR teams can work with senior leaders to create an environment in which C-suite members and team managers encourage employees to take their allotted time-off to reset, catch up with family and friends and explore new places or hobbies. To ensure companies are equipped to manage employees taking time-off efficiently, HR teams may consider leveraging automated systems that can better track and manage employee leave, so HR teams can focus on more business-critical issues. With the right system in place, HR teams can automate the time-off process and integrate their time and attendance data to efficiently track employee leave and set parameters for requesting, approving and even encouraging employee time off. These tools can also make PTO more transparent and can prompt employees and managers to create a plan to ensure all employees are taking their allotted PTO.

Tools that Help HR Teams Better Manage Absenteeism

Since employee leave offers tremendous benefits for both employees and the organization, it seems natural for HR teams to want to leverage systems that manage employee absences with complete visibility and accuracy. Without an effective and easy way to track employee leave, HR teams run the risk of putting business operations in disarray, potentially impacting a company’s bottom line—estimates show that productivity losses tied to absenteeism cost U.S. companies $225.8 billion annually.

Traditionally, HR teams have used paper- or spreadsheet-based systems to track employee absences as well as which employees would pick up extra shifts, an arduous and error-prone process. Modern software that automates the time tracking and PTO process helps HR teams:
 

• Better comply with regulatory leave requirements and collective bargaining agreements: HR teams must keep track of both applicable leave laws and obligations under any established collective bargaining agreements. Modern software systems allow HR to manage leave for all employees, including hourly, salaried, remote (working in multiple locations) or unionized and working under a collective bargaining agreement.
• Notify managers about leave requests: HR teams can customize notifications that alert them to when an employee has submitted a time-off request, send alerts when an employee is approaching his or her time off, and alert employees when their request has been approved. HR can also send notifications to managers when an outstanding request requires their attention, so they don’t slip through the cracks.
• Monitor leave in real-time: A leave management system gives HR complete access to all employee leave data, such as leave balances and accruals, as well as if an employee borrows against future accruals. This data helps HR departments understand which employees are approaching their leave limit or who has not taken any leave and needs encouragement. With visibility into which employees have time-off scheduled in the future, HR teams can more effectively arrange shift coverage and temporary staff replacement.

To get the most out of automated leave management systems, HR teams may also consider leveraging solutions that offer robust scheduling capabilities. Demand-driven scheduling solutions can integrate key business drivers with the scheduling process, so HR leaders can rest assured that shifts are staffed appropriately, and employees who are stepping in for colleagues on vacation aren’t overworked or feeling burnt out. For example, with insights from leave management systems, HR teams and managers can automatically see who is scheduled to be out during a certain time and ensure those employees are not scheduled to work. Demand-driven scheduling also enables managers to quickly fill open shifts in the event an employee calls in sick by posting open shifts and securing a replacement for an unexpected absence.

The working world continues to change, and as such, HR teams need to adapt to create a more evolved environment for their employees. By leveraging automated systems that make scheduling more dynamic and take the guesswork out of leave management, HR can work with managers to create a healthier environment in which PTO is no longer a taboo subject and employees are encouraged to recharge.

Mindy Honcoop is the Chief People Officer at TCP Software. Visit www.tcpsoftware.com Connect Mindy Honcoop Follow @tcpsoftware