How Employee Engagement Can Positively Impact Absenteeism

One of the toughest challenges employers face is motivating disengaged or absent employees to work productively for their company. When some employees are absent or neglect their duties at the workplace, others work overtime to cover the workload, which in turn affects everybody else.

To avoid these situations, companies have started seeing how employee engagement can positively impact absenteeism.

A Gallup survey shows that businesses successfully implementing employee engagement initiatives saw lower absenteeism rates to the tune of 81%.

Employee engagement, at its core, is about motivating all employees to work together toward achieving common goals. Let's learn how to reduce absenteeism in the workplace through a good mix of engagement initiatives.

What is Absenteeism in the Workplace?

Absenteeism refers to a short or prolonged absence of an employee from the workplace by being unavailable (online or offline) beyond permissible absence. In most cases, short periods of absence can be due to health reasons relating to the employee, the employee’s family members, or close friends.

If such periods of absence occur suddenly without prior notice, other team members may have to work extra to cover the absent employee's workload.

When employees are absent for prolonged periods, they often neglect their assigned duties, leading to complications, disengagement, and tension among the team. Moreover, prolonged or frequent absences decrease the entire team’s productivity, as they need to realign and develop a strategy to reach the work goals, excluding the absent employees. Absenteeism among leaders and team heads can also demotivate team members and affect the team’s goals.

The Connection Between Employee Engagement and Absenteeism

The concept of employee engagement encourages employees to have open conversations with their team members and leaders through formal and informal methods. An actively engaged employee voices their concerns to the right person at the right time, thereby resolving conflicts without affecting productivity and work dynamics.

Employees who do not find their needs or requests satisfied naturally tend to withdraw from work and remain neutral. Gradually, this disengagement can turn into absenteeism, leading to a complete decoupling of the team and the company.

Here are some reasons why employees start to resort to sudden absenteeism at the workplace:

1. They’re not satisfied with their job roles and job perks.
2. They’re not finding enough motivation to do their work.
3. They have mental health concerns that prevent them from performing to their potential.
4. Differences within team members, and much more.

Do these concerns mean that such employees can never reform and work productively? Not at all.

With the right employee engagement initiatives, companies can target absenteeism and ensure that prolonged absence is converted into active presence at the workplace.

Let’s see how implementing employee engagement initiatives can positively impact absenteeism.

Impact of Employee Engagement on Absenteeism

Employee engagement initiatives are essential for connecting employees with company leaders. These initiatives can also target absenteeism by addressing the concerns of absent employees.

Here are some positive impacts of employee engagement to reduce employee absenteeism:

Increase Productivity and Performance

When employees work together with their team and leaders, they have opportunities to voice concerns, settle disputes, and agree on common grounds. There is no reason for employees to walk out of meetings, neglect their work, or stay neutral when their voices are valued at all levels in the company.

As a result, employees remain productive in completing their assigned duties. Even during periods of less or no work, the employees spend time sharpening their skill sets to face more challenging tasks in the future.

Implementing the right employee engagement initiatives ensures improved performance and productivity, as well as a sense of productivity and value within the company.

Improved Workplace Morale

One can judge and decide the nature of a workplace based on the overall attitude of the employees working there. A workplace that has all employees reporting to work on a regular basis (online in the case of remote workspaces) shows itself as a positive work environment.

Employees get motivated to arrive at work every day when they see their peers show the same enthusiasm. When team leaders follow the company policies and lead by example, their team members emulate them, multiplying the positive attitude.

Moreover, employee engagement initiatives provide reasons for employees to come to work not just for their duties but also for engaging, celebrating, and meeting like-minded colleagues. Such measures boost employees’ morale and make them feel valued.

Lower Turnover Rates

The worst-case result of prolonged periods of absenteeism is employee turnover. Employees resort to such decisions when they feel they are no longer valued or their opinions are not validated within the team or company.

Employee engagement focuses on several feedback channels where employees can voice their concerns openly and resolve them in a favorable manner. Such measures can make employees rethink their decisions and show up again at work.

When an employee observes others with longevity at the company, they’re motivated to remain at the company with the hope that the company values their contributions and necessities.

Stronger Employer Brand and Reputation

For any company, long-tenured employees are the best way to promote itself as a great workplace. Employees of such companies share testimonials about what makes them show up to work every day, showing the unlimited opportunities and challenges that they come across.

Also, looking at diverse employees who report regularly shows that the company accommodates its employees’ unique needs. For instance, more working mothers reporting back at work can be a sign that the company provides sufficient childcare benefits and facilities.

Engagement Strategies to Reduce Employee Absenteeism

Engagement initiatives can be key to understanding what causes certain employees to resort to absenteeism in the workplace. Such employees may also seek to speak to the right person to voice their concerns.

Moreover, it’s important to address their concerns before start to consider the option of leaving the company. Engagement strategies can be preventive measures to prevent absenteeism in the first place.

Here are some ways that HR professionals and team leaders can try to avoid absenteeism and keep all employees motivated and engaged.

 

Creating a Positive Work Culture

Companies must create a workplace where employees are the most valuable resource. How a company treats its employees shows how much it values its brand. Customers and clients are more drawn to companies that make their employees feel valued.

Organizations are refining their incentives and pay packages to accommodate the needs of employees. Moreover, employees are now seeking more opportunities to bond with their peers. Celebrating small and large achievements brings employees closer.

Many organizations are also providing mental health support to help employees combat stressful situations at work. From talking to in-house psychiatrists to taking mental health breaks and vacations to celebrating events with the team, participating in company-wide celebrations, and much more, companies are developing innovative engagement initiatives to improve the overall workplace culture.

Effective Leadership and Communication

Absenteeism can be reduced when leaders and managers intervene and guide employees through challenging situations. However, absenteeism is often the last resort for employees when communications with their leaders and managers become futile.

So, it becomes mandatory for companies to encourage managers and team leaders to have open communication with their team members. Leaders must have individual and group meetings where employees discuss concerns and issues apart from their work goals.

Managers must facilitate open discussions within their teams about changes in team dynamics, resolve disputes and differences, and manage workloads in a balanced manner. Managers are key feedback channels for companies to understand employee concerns at the micro level.

Providing Growth and Development Opportunities

Every employee faces periods in their career where they feel they do not have sufficient work to prove their skills. Such dry phases make employees feel they are not valued and need to find different opportunities.

In fact, most employees tend to be absent from their workplace to pursue new opportunities, learn a new skill, or apply for higher education. This is where organizations can come up with similar ways to keep employees occupied during periods of minimal workload.

Most organizations have skill development and training programs to help employees learn courses that help them at work or provide them with additional skills that could be helpful in the future. Companies can also partner with universities to help employees earn degrees and certifications without being absent. Managers must provide their employees with the right opportunities to be most productive with their skill sets.

Work-Life Balance and Flexibility

The years after the COVID-19 pandemic have seen increases in sick leaves and a lengthy period of recovery. In fact, the pandemic was when a majority of companies switched to temporary or permanent remote working solutions.

Companies that offered the flexibility of working from home saw an increase in productivity such that physical absence and distance did not affect the performance of employees and their teams. These flexible setups allowed employees to continue working while tending to their dear ones.

Today, flexible work is seen as one of the most important benefits when choosing a job role in a company. Those companies failing to provide this flexibility continue to face absenteeism. Even if a company’s policy fails to provide remote or flexible work, such companies must make way to accommodate flexible working requests of special needs, such as new mothers, employees with health issues, and so on.

Recognizing and Rewarding Employee Contributions

Recognizing and appreciating small and big achievements within the team and company levels helps boost employee morale.

Many companies use employee engagement software solutions to fast-track the recognition and appreciation process with the help of a company-wide intranet. Moreover, a flexible rewards program allows employees to choose their rewards from options like cash, coupons, vouchers, donations, and many more.

Companies must also encourage peer recognition so that employees don't feel trapped in a top-down, leadership-initiated recognition structure. Appreciation among team members can be a great way to understand employees' strengths and skills, which can be used tactfully in future projects and collaborations.

Building a Culture of Engagement For a Healthier Workforce

Absenteeism can result from employees feeling less valued for the work they do, not seeming to fit into a team, or not finding peers who share their point of view. Having the right channels to communicate concerns and feedback can help prevent prolonged absenteeism due to dissatisfaction at work.

Employee engagement can positively impact absenteeism as employees can discuss their concerns and issues across several channels. Moreover, they can find the right group of peers in the company who can help and support them during challenging times with the right advice.

When companies provide such initiatives and resolve concerns amicably, employees do not find reasons to be absent or neglect their duties. However, deciding on the right initiatives and handling absent or disengaged employees can be difficult.

Here is where companies like R180 can assist teams and leaders in improving team dynamics and ensuring active participation from the team to improve productivity. Moreover, our data-driven insights help companies prevent decisions that can lead to absenteeism and disengagement.

If you see absenteeism posing a threat to your team’s productivity, let us help you assess your team’s engagement levels and work towards improvement.