Managing Absenteeism

AARP estimates that 44 million American households now provide some care for an adult family member. Over the next two decades this figure will increase. Simultaneously, the age of those receiving this care will also rise, contributing to their fragility and putting more demands on working family members. Given the above figures, expect to see an increase in absenteeism due not just to employee illness but to the health of those being cared for at home.

The cost of absenteeism's to American businesses is staggering. A Center for Law and Social Policy study estimates that productive losses due to absenteeism amount to over $250 billion per year. The impact is even more dramatic for small or mid-size businesses where fewer workers are present to cover the workload.

How prepared are you to deal with the prolonged absence of one or more key employees due to illness or their need to provide home-care to a family member or friend?

Taking Steps

While challenging, there are some things even a small business can do to be better prepared for the unexpected loss of a team member. First, understand the key processes that must run in order to keep your business working. Once identified, consider outsourcing some of them. While initially this may represent an expense, the flexibility you gain along with some added resiliency can often justify the cash outflow. Over time, you will find outsourcing to be an effective way of coping with growth since it will  be easier to expand your operations if you have a flexible arrangement with a trusted contractor.

Next, do all you can to cross-train employees on critical activities. While security and other considerations sometimes come into play, make an effort to have at least one other person, even if it is the owner or manager, trained to perform all the key tasks.

Document your processes. While doing this is time-consuming and tedious, you may discover better ways to accomplish your goal and that alone may justify the effort. Good documentation also helps in transitions if you experience employee turnover.

Encourage your employees to have a family preparedness plan.

This way, if an emergency arises, both your employees and their family members will be more capable of coping with various risks and threats. Advise them to go to  www.ready.gov/emergency-planning-checklists where they will find straight-forward information on how to put together a family preparedness plan.

Last, consider holding an evacuation exercise at work, such as a fire-drill.  Ask your local fire department to send a representative to observe and coach you through the exercise. Most fire departments are delighted to do this and provide this service at no charge. After the evacuation, discuss the lessons learned with your employees. Have a discussion of how employees should deal with helping someone who is injured, leave the building. Point out that these same principles can be applied at home. This will encourage an exchange of ideas around evacuating someone with physical limitations without forcing anyone to disclose personal or sensitive information about family members.

The challenges of child-care, elder-care, even pet-care are realities that must be taken into consideration when you make plans to improve the resiliency of your business. By helping your employees be better prepared for emergencies that impact their personal lives, you will be preparing them to help you make your business ready to resume.