How do you keep building a sustainable, positive absenteeism policy?

Your absenteeism policy should not gather (digital) dust on your intranet. After all, a company is constantly changing: roles and teams change, employees come and go… All these developments have an impact on your absenteeism policy and the related responsibilities.

Communicating about it regularly (guidelines, results, etc.) keeps everyone informed of the agreements made. This can be done, for example, when onboarding new employees, promoting well-being campaigns, or sharing absenteeism successes.

User-friendly absenteeism software allows you to centralise your absenteeism figures and procedures in one place. You can easily monitor your absenteeism figures: short- and long-term absenteeism, absenteeism frequency, absenteeism percentage… Knowledge is power, and software helps you make the impact of your policy measurable.

But it doesn’t just allow you to measure and report absenteeism figures to your employees. By analysing your absenteeism figures over the long term, you will also see certain patterns. This allows you to predict absenteeism over time, detect persistent problems, and get managers to anticipate issues.

You can also use absenteeism software to monitor the actual execution of your process steps: absenteeism interviews, reintegration policies, checklists and templates, etc.

A large-scale survey by Mensura found that 43.5% of Belgian workers are ‘highly motivated’ at work. Just under 4% are ‘not motivated’. These are great figures, but they also mean that a large group (52.5%) is only ‘fairly’ or ‘somewhat’ motivated. That group in particular requires extra attention in a sustainable, positive absenteeism policy.

Give them room for their own input: what do they think could be improved? For example, one in three (34.2%) feel that the work-life balance is not yet right. Focus on filling those needs, show appreciation (but in an authentic way), and make it clear why their work is meaningful. Thus, you increase their engagement, productivity, well-being, and sustainable employability. And you almost instantly lower the risk of absenteeism and turnover

Have you only just implemented your absenteeism policy? Then give it time to evolve and become entrenched in your business. After all, the ROI will not be immediately visible. So be patient, and keep following the first three tips. Also plan regular review moments to critically examine the policy and make adjustments where necessary.

A clear absenteeism policy not only reduces your absenteeism figures, but can also make your company stronger in the long run. Once you demonstrate positive results, your employees will be motivated to continue that trend. Thus, they become proactive ambassadors of your policy to their colleagues and to the outside world. That, in turn, is good for your employer, as you create a healthy corporate culture where well-being is a priority. And this in turn makes it easier to attract talent in the war for talent.