An insurance company is experiencing troubles on employee attendance as there is an identified problem on absenteeism particularly among female staff members due to family responsibilities. There is also an issue of misusing company sick leave benefits. Using the MARS approach, reasons on absenteeism are identified and provided with reduction policies or long-term solutions.
1. Absenteeism: reasons and reductions
Robbins and Judge (2007) define absenteeism as “the failure to report to work” (p. 28). It is also believed that it is one of the main causes of loss and disruption of work process, which in turn affect organizational productivity. There is significant indication in the I/O psychology, industrial relations, and education literatures that absenteeism (particularly those that is excessive in nature) is predictive of likely outcomes (Bamberger and Biron 2007). This means that absenteeism behavior is directly associated and can be pinpointed toward the results of organizational productivity and performance. In the case presented, the insurance company is experiencing high levels of absenteeism among the office staff. They are using their sick leave benefits unreasonably. It is primarily identified that some of the mostly female staff members tend not to attend work because their family responsibilities interfere with work. The balance of work and life is unequal. Looking on the case of female employees, the absenteeism behavior is rooted on the personal and household provisions. The extensive collection of literatures identify many possible reasons for absenteeism such as: overpowering nature of work, demanding workload, low employee morale and job satisfaction, poor leadership, health problems and stress, and personal problems. These reasons directly and indirectly affect work-life balance. Senior management should be able to reduce the rate of absenteeism by coming up with practical and effective approaches like MARS.
Motivation – The concept of motivation as an important element to every organization is associated with productivity and morale of employees (Armstrong and Stephens 2005; Allen and Helms 2002). Sims (2002) reports basing on corporate experiences and empirical findings that a variety of negative consequences on insufficient motivation leading to high staff turnover, high rate of absenteeism, poor performance, resistance to training and career development course, and so on. On simplest way, showing employees that employers care for them can make a great difference in improving work enthusiasm and attendance. Motivate and rewards are two simple principles that can be used yet necessitate critical planning and implementation (Kressler 2003).
Ability – Most people are hired based on their aptitudes and learned capabilities that suit a job position. In an insurance company, it is expected that an employee is at least knowledgeable with sales and marketing as well as outstanding interpersonal relations. The inability of the management to choose the most appropriate person for the job leads to serious problems like absenteeism. On this case, the management should be able to provide ample training and development initiatives that will hone the existing abilities of employees. Training and development is tantamount to learning as it is relevant in linking the holistic development of people and the company (Shah et al. 2001). HR Managers should be able to point out the weak aspects of the manpower so that they will be able to come up with the most reasonable and systematic approach.
Role perceptions – Basically, the idea of employees about their work affects their performance and productivity. Their beliefs on what behaviors are right and necessary to use in specific situations is based on their own judgment. On the case of absenteeism, employees tend not to attend to work when they feel that they are no longer capable of doing the work due to some conditions such as physical or health and personal problems. There is a need to reinforce employee relations policy of the company, for example, by having an inclusive medical services and counseling. Biron (2007) avers that educating employees about their individual’s own perceptions regarding the likely costs and benefits of absenteeism is influential.
Situational factors – The workplace environment plays a crucial role in employee behavior and performance (Daft 2003). In an insurance company, the pressure is high especially on cases where employees or agents need to beat deadlines or meet quota requirements. When they are not able to deal with this, stress, loss of self-confidence, and other possible problems may occur. To solve this, promote an atmosphere of equality and fairness as bounded by the vision and mission of the company. Developing good working conditions affect workers wellbeing, which in turn leads to teamwork, flexibility, balance between work and personal life, enhanced performance and productivity and reduced absenteeism (Guest and Conway 2004).
All in all, the causes of and solutions for absenteeism can be credited to the ability of HRM and policies of the company. The core principles of HRM are essential in gaining the best employees to work towards productivity and performance. Thus, HR managers and staff should always keen on trends occurring in the workplace and needs of people (Hornsby and Kuratko 2005) towards their wellbeing at work (Baptiste 2008). In conclusion, the management of the company must be able to pin point the root of the problems and provide the necessary actions as practical response or they might considered the suggestions mentioned above.
References
Bamberger, P and Biron, M (2007) ‘Group norms and excessive absenteeism: The role of peer referent others’, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 103, 179–196
Baptiste, NR (2008) ‘Tightening the link between employee wellbeing at work and performance – A new dimension for HRM’, Management Decision, 46: 2, 284-309
Daft, R (2003) Management, 6th edn, Thomson South-Western, Cincinnati, OH
Guest, D and Conway, N (2004) Employee Well-being and the Psychological Contract, The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, London
Hornsby, J and Kuratko, D (2005) Frontline PR: a Handbook for the Emerging Manager, Thompson, Crawfordsville, IN
Kressler, HW (2003) Motivate and Reward – Performance Appraisal and Incentive Systems for Business Success, Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Robbins, SP and Judge, TA (2007) Organizational Behavior 12th edn, Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ
Shah, A, Chesser, J, Sterrett, C, and Wilmore, J (2001) ‘Meeting the Need for Employee Development in the 21st Century’, SAM Advanced Management Journal, 66: 2, 22-28
Sims, RR (2002) Organizational Success through Effective Human Resources Management, Quorum, Westport, CT
This case study is about social identity focused on Catherine O’Neill – the development of her career in accounting in a prestigious company and her sudden shift in a low profile organization. It also includes her perceptions about herself and her immediate environment which affects her views about people and circumstances as well as herself in her eyes and the others.
2. Social Identity: who am I and who you are?
Question 1. Social identity defines what we believe and others believe about. It is a result of behavior and thoughts as well as the environment. The social identity issues present in the case of Catherine are: Lipport-Johanson Inc. (LJI) is the best company to work due to its image as well as the people behind it; there is positive evaluation of people working there – professional, ethical, and could be the best in the field; Fenwey is far different from LJI in terms of structure and people; and Catherine’s feelings about the old and new job are far different from each other. Catherine is always optimistic in pursuing an accounting job because of the strong patriarchal influence. The social identities that she formed say a lot about how she thinks, acts, and express her personality.
Question 2. In Part 1, the preconceptions, observations about the environment – what Catherine saw, heard, or feel, and experienced about LJI indicated the positive evaluation of the groups. During her interview in the main office, she was able to expose herself within the elegant lobby, the people dressed in their conservative apparel, and the “feel” of the workplace. These perceptions developed as she spent longer time at the office. She used what she saw in building generalizations and conclusions. Because of what she saw, she believed that LJI is the best place for her to work. This is also manifested on her statement to her father: “…I just know I’m a good fit”.
Question 6. There are evidences where Catherine experienced the categorization-homogenization-differentiation process. On the aspect of categorization, Catherine concluded that the group in LJI is more professional than those in Fenway. She indirectly discriminated the workers in Fenwey as they deal with mechanical works (e.g. grease); the way they dress as compared to her; and her feelings towards the group. On homogenization, she has negative feelings about Fenway’s working environment and the way all employees look in their casual dresses matched with casual attitudes in contrast to the employees in LJI who are well-dressed. The effect of the formal working conditions in LJI was carried out in her new job. On differentiation, she blatantly compared the feeling she had with people similar to her job in LJI. She said that she don’t feel the same way at Fenway. She did this without looking into the nature of the job and its underlying circumstances.
In conclusion, the changes that happened in Catherine’s career in LJI to Fenway showed the transcendental development of her social identity particularly on how she thinks, acts, and express her self with the social environment and the people around her. It is true that people are always subject to changes in all aspect of his/her personality. In the case of Catherine’s she chose to believe on her first-hand judgment on things rather than opening up the possibility to be in harmony with her social setting.
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