Presentation on Absenteeism and Retention by Roland Witham. This was presented at the Teleresources HR Forum

1. Absenteeism and retention
challenges and solutions
HR TRENDS
Roland Witham
Oct 2011

2. The double whammy
 Increasing absenteeism (illness and “time-
poverty”)
 Decreasing turn-over of unproductive staff
 Increasing turn-over of skilled staff to become
entrepreneurs to have more control over the
security of their jobs
 Are we ready in SA for flexible working
technologies in practice e.g. Telecommuting?
Probably not, but we should be! Because the
new era is all about handling change faster with
greater flexibility.

3. ABSENTEEISM
Learning from others

4. Some get it right
Source HRVoice.org

5. The challenge
 Increase in absenteeism due to recognisised
disabilities such as alcoholism and drug
rehabilitation, depression and chronic fatigue
syndrome – human rights code
 Have to accommodate such disabled employees
to the point of “undue hardship”
 Wilful versus unwilful absenteeism
 Have to have an active policy in place
 This is not just a SA challenge:
http://www.tlnt.com/2011/09/01/survey-workers-everywhere-call-in-sick-when-they-arent-sick-at-all/

6. A matter of approach
 “how do you keep your eye on the ball when you can’t see
it?”
 What does your intuition tell you, do people want to be happy
and productive and useful at work or do they want to be sick,
unproductive and unhappy at work?
 Right, now how do we create that vibrant environment?
 The rapid rate of change in the world and the need to stay
positive about it requires a different approach to
management.
 So even with a policy in place, HR managers must work with
line to start to use intuition in shaping a vision for where they
want the business unit to be, a starting point for that and to
help guide them make critical decisions along the way.
 4 “I’s” of intuition: integrity, intention, imagination and
inspiration

7. One possible solution
 Integrity ensures that vision is created from a truthful place; a
realistic and accurate assessment of the situation as it currently
stands
 With intention, we identify not only our goals but also
importantly, what we want our experience to be “while” we
accomplish them.
 Imagination ensures connection to the world of possibilities. This
is the place of “what-if creative thinking,” where new solutions lie
 Inspiration feeds the vision. It is the fuel that launches the rocket.
It gets in the trenches with us when the difficult work needs to be
done and sheer grit, determination and discipline are required to
move forward.
 Steve Jobs, co-Founder of Apple Computers, concluded: “The
creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have
to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of
your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll
discover will be yourself.”

8. Learning from others
creativeness
 Schools! "What we know is, missing as few as three
days of school is strongly predictive of lower
achievement and missing 10 days of school is
predictive of dropping out," said Seattle Mayor Mike
McGinn
 Absenteeism is drastically on the rise in schools
 www.getschooled.com Celebrities call students to
wake them up
 One entrepreneurial call centre now offers a “book-off”
outsource service because often employees can’t get
hold of their Supervisors. Employees call and give
them all the details, get a reference number and the
outsourcer provides a single updated list by an agreed
time to their client’s WFM team per shift cycle.

9. RETENTION
Be flexible

10. Global flu and SA sneezing
 SA is not immune to the economic challenges in the world; pay
freezes, low benefits or cuts, layoffs of permanent workers
 This has lead to employee disengagement globally
 Unemployment remains high but HR is struggling to recruit and
retain skilled talent.
 Once the economy improves more employees will start looking for
new jobs
Source: Deloitte Talent Edge 2020

11. Retention
 Even though businesses are recovering after
layoffs, consolidations and decreased earnings, 73% of
employees surveyed still felt discouraged, while 64% lacked
motivation in their current jobs.
 17,000 employees with various organizations were
surveyed, highlighting the top 10 reasons why employees stay
with an organization as: 1. Exciting work and challenge; 2. Career
growth, learning and development; 3. Working with great
people; 4. Fair pay; 5. Supportive management/good boss; 6.
Being recognized, valued and respected; 7. Benefits; 8.
Meaningful work and making a difference; 9. Pride in the
organization, its mission and its products; 10. Great work
environment and culture (Workplace Insight).
 We know this right! So what’s the problem?

12. The challenge
 How does one achieve: sense of job
satisfaction, security and flexible schedules in
a highly cost and time conscious and process
driven environment like a call centre?
 Do not see a dichotomy where is none...
 The policy does not need to mirror the job
tasks
 With good controls in place your policies can
be flexible

13. One possible solution
 Be flexible!
Source: Deloitte Talent Edge 2020

14. Another possible solution
 Be flexible!
 Start to build up more solid, longitudinal data, looking for
push and pull factors, where does all your exit interview data
get stored?
 Encourage mobility and short term assignments but please
ensure the systems and balances are in place to ensure
consistent quality service delivery e.g. Rotating QA monitors
may require increased calibration sessions!
 Engage retirees and get true diversity going in the call centre
but please build a culture that supports this!
 Provide a variety of developmental opportunities not
necessarily only those linked to the current role
 “It is neither sensible nor possible to offer long-term
employment for all, and long service does not equal
commitment and loyalty.” – www. Cactusresearch.co.uk

15. THANK YOU
Discussion
roland@contactcentresmart.com
082 606 0314