Absenteeism is a Problem

Written by Julie Silfverberg

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If absenteeism is a problem for your team or company you are not alone. Yet that is probably little consolation because absenteeism puts a strain on the rest of the team and can affect morale.

The Irish Times 26 October 2010 reported – Absenteeism costs businesses in Ireland over €563 million each year, according to a new study from the Small Firms Association (SFA).

This reference is only talking about the smaller firms in Ireland. Smaller firms tend to have lower rates of absenteeism than larger or state owned companies, so just imagine the cost to 

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the economy. One of the most significant contributing factors to absenteeism is stress. The cause of stress can be manifold either work related or personal factors. 

Stress manifests itself in a multitude of ways; back pain, more susceptible to colds and flu, repetitive strain injury, stiff joints, forgetfulness, poor time keeping and so on.    

What can you do? Many people think there is nothing they can do about stress when actually there is a lot you can do to reduce the effects. 

You could choose to have the person or people who are regularly absent coached. Alternatively a more long term solution may be to get coaching for the team leader or manger so they can learn how to recognise the signs and discover a way to deal with it more effectively in future delivering a more sustainable result.