Attendance Intervention Human Resources Hummel

Attendance Intervention

Human Resources

Hummel Insurance Attendance Intervention

Executive Summar

Description of the Performance in your Organization

Description of the Performance Analysis

Desription of the Root Cause Analysis

Description of the Design, Development and Selection

Description of Performance Evaluation and Continuous Quality Improvement

Bilbiography

Apendecies Employee absenteeism is one of the most common workplace problems facing employers in today's workplace. In August, Hummel Insurance Company held a supervisor conference to discuss goals and areas of improvement. It was discussed that the average employee absenteeism rate was an average of five days per six months. One of the members of the HR leadership team informed the group that this rate needed to be reduced to one day per six-month period. Immediately after this conference, it was explored as to what was causing the attendance problem as well as how improvement could be made. Ultimately, it was determined that a lack of communication about the attendance policy to both supervisors and employees made it difficult for employees to adhere to it and supervisors to enforce it.

Description of the Performance Problem in your Organization

The vast preponderance of every day human resource troubles experienced by supervisors relate to attendance. There is no question that additional discipline is taken for misbehavior involving attendance than all other causes put together (Gilson, 2007). Employee absenteeism is one of the most widespread workplace problems facing employers in today's workplace. Genuine illnesses still account for the mass of employee absences, but some studies have shown that less than a third of absences from the workplace are associated with bad health. The majority of employers offer their workers vacation, sick leave, paid time off, or other kinds of paid and unpaid leave for their employees (Employee Absenteeism and Attendance, 2011).

One of the most exasperating parts of administering absence policies for employers is the unbelievable amount of abuse that takes place. A key to decreasing abuse is to have an absence policy that undoubtedly sets forth which absences are permissible, and what behavior will subject the employee to discipline. "Absenteeism problems can range from employees not calling in or not showing up for their shifts, taking sick leave when well, and exhausting their available leave every month, to requesting extra time off and establishing patterns of abuse. For these non-protected absences employers can, and should, discipline their employees" (Employee Absenteeism and Attendance, 2011). A company's policy should be clearly written and distributed to all employees. Additionally, the employer should make sure to train all supervisors and managers to make sure that the policy is being fairly applied. It's a good idea to spot check attendance issues in every department to make sure that company rules are being practically imposed (Employee Absenteeism and Attendance, 2011).

At Hummel Insurance Company they have a tremendous attendance problem within their inbound call center. When people do not come to work on time or at all it leaves the company short of agents to handle the inbound phone calls from their customers. The company prides itself on providing exemplary customer service and works very hard to answer all incoming phone calls within twenty seconds. When the call center agents do not come to work it makes it very difficult for the company to provide the quality service that it wants to within the timeframe that has been set down. In an effort to diagnose and treat this problem within the company, HPT is utilized to fuse the gap between the actual and desired levels of attendance (Wilmoth, Prigmore, & Bray, 2002).

Description of the Performance Analysis

Looking at the cost optimization aspect of Hummel Insurance Company's attendance goals, there is incongruence in how the current attendance process is contributing to organizational objectives. By evaluating the performance assessments and attendance records for the individuals within the work group, HPT is able to see if this has been a recent or historical problem. As research indicates, there has been an attendance issue for a long time. Using the Language of Work Model (see Appendix, Table A), the business unit of the call center, the core processes of coming to work everyday on time, the customer service representatives and the work groups of individual teams were assessed to paint a picture of the "As Is" state (the HPT team would execute similar discussion with key stakeholders to determine the "ideal" state before completing the "To Be" model). Additionally, HPT would be responsible for surveying primary stakeholders. Sample questions (by audience) may include:

Supervisors: What impact is this attendance problem having on the organization?

What resources will you invest in order to improve it? What are your goals for improved attendance?

Human Resources: How do you perceive attendance metrics? How do you perceive morale? How involved are you with attendance procedures? How are individuals evaluated in following attendance procedures?

Employees: How satisfied are you with the attendance process? What, if anything do you see as unfair? How could it be improved?

Once the survey data is evaluated in conjunction with the objectives of the organization, the outputs, inputs, conditions, consequences, process elements, and feedback to the business unit are combined with the core processes, individuals, and work groups to determine overall level of work execution (Pershing, 2006). Based on research within the customer base, business unit, and work group as well as evaluating data within the Language of Work Model, it can be determined that there is occasion for improvement in attendance as there are high amounts of absenteeism on a daily basis. Again, evaluating all of this data, the key stakeholders are surveyed in a similar fashion to understand and determine the "ideal" levels of attendance. Then, using the Language of Work Model, a "To Be" performance analysis is executed. Once completed, the HPT team is able to identify performance gaps. Based on business objectives, the ideal attendance should be no more than one absence in a six-month period. The gap in attendance can be quantified as over by five days per six-month period. Based on the gap analysis, the attendance irregularities are qualified and quantified in the root cause analysis.

Description of the Root Cause Analysis

In assessing the "As Is" compared with the "To Be" performance states, the greatest discrepancies lie within the employees themselves. What is lost in this gap is the motivation to attend work on a daily basis (Pershing, 2006). There is a lack of communication between supervisors and line staff in regards to the attendance policy thus indicating that a work execution gap exists (Pershing, 2006). The cause analysis utilizes the Updated Behavior Engineering PROBE Questions listed below [see Appendix, Table B] (Pershing, 2006). These questions help shed light on performance gaps and hone in on the root cause of the problem. These questions focus on individual and environmental factors within the department and organization.

From an environmental perspective, employees feel that they do not have the appropriate information or incentives to properly adhere to the attendance policy. Furthermore from an individual perspective, the supervisors do not possess the necessary knowledge and training opportunities to build these competencies. The root cause of the attendance problem is the training managers' lack of understanding of the attendance policy and the supervisor's knowledge of how to carry out the policy with a lack of accountability through incentives and motivation. Since the floor supervisors are uncertain of attendance policies and procedures, there is a delay in the recognition of a problem at all. Providing the necessary information and training to the supervisors as well as aligning attendance assessment and reward to employee tasks will expedite the increase in daily attendance.

Description of the Intervention Design, Development, and Selection

Consulting the "Matrix of Interventions," the best intervention option appeared to be training. The four broad areas of lack of skill/knowledge, flawed incentives, flawed environment, and lack of motivation were looked at. There are a number of interventions that can be used when dealing with employee attendance issues. These include:

Meeting with the employee privately, and giving them the opening to discuss their reasons for the attendance difficulty. If the reason is medically based, one may need to be flexible in accommodating the employee and investigate the use of FMLA.

Documenting any conversation with the employee regarding the attendance issue. Making a note of the times and dates of verbal warnings. Reminding the employee of the company attendance policy.

Discussing a sensible solution in resolving the attendance problem. One may give the employee a time frame in which to resolve the attendance issues. Being flexible and fair, giving the employee a chance to get their schedule in order.

Holding the employee to the contract. Explaining to the employee that the company is willing to resolve the attendance issue, but the company could take action if they do not comply with the contract (How to Handle an Employee's Attendance Problems, 2011).

Description of the Program Development Strategy

There are two types of absenteeism, each of which necessitates a different kind of approach. The first is that of innocent absenteeism. This refers to workers who are absent for reasons that are beyond their control, like sickness or injury. Innocent absenteeism is not culpable which means that it is blameless. In a labor relations circumstance this means that it cannot be remedied or treated by disciplinary actions. The second type is culpable absenteeism. This refers to workers who are absent without permission for reasons which are within their control. To be culpable is to be guilty. In a labor relations circumstance this means that progressive discipline can be used (Guidelines for Absenteeism Control, n.d.).

The kind of absenteeism should be identified and attendance records should be looked at frequently to be sure that a workers sick-leave days are disproportionate compared to other workers. If a supervisor suspects that a worker is exceptionally absent, this can be confirmed by reviewing the attendance records (Yorges, 2011). If all signs show that an employee is excessively absent, the next step is to gather as much information as possible in order to get a clearer picture of the circumstances. The workers files should be looked at and the employee's direct supervisor should document all accessible information on the particular employee's history (Guidelines for Absenteeism Control, n.d.).

After all accessible information has been gathered, the supervisor should individually meet with each worker whom has been acknowledged as having higher than average or questionable absences. This first conference should be used to bring concerns regarding attendance to the workers awareness. It is also an occasion to talk with the worker, in some intensity, the causes of their attendance problem and possible steps that they can take to fix or control the absences (Guidelines for Absenteeism Control, n.d.).

If after the initial meeting, sufficient time and counseling efforts, as fitting, have passed and the workers absenteeism has not gotten better, it may be necessary to take further action. Further action must be handled with extreme care as a mistake in approach, timing or severity can be crippling from both an administration and labor relation's point-of-view. Figuring out whether re-training or disciplinary action is appropriate, depends on whether the employee's absences are innocent or culpable. If the employee's absenteeism is made up of both innocent and culpable absences, then each kind must be dealt with as a separate issue (Guidelines for Absenteeism Control, n.d.).

If it is determined that the absenteeism is innocent re-training will take place. The employee will be enrolled in a refresher course on company policies and procedures. During this class the entire attendance policy will be gone over in depth in order to make sure that the employee understands both the policy and the consequences for not abiding by it.

If on the other hand the absenteeism is determined to be culpable and the supervisor has communicated the attendance expectations to the worker, identified that the employee has a problem, has met with them as part of the attendance program, has made their worries on the specific absenteeism known and have offered counseling as fitting, if no improvement is shown, disciplinary procedures may be proper. The procedures for corrective discipline for culpable absenteeism are normally the same as for other progressive discipline issues. The discipline should not be detrimental in any way. The general procedure is as follows:

1. Initial Warning(s)

2. Written Warning(s)

3. Suspension(s)

4. Discharge (Guidelines for Absenteeism Control, n.d.).

In implementing the attendance interventions, the reality is that things will change for the employees of the call center. The ability to get these individuals comfortable with change rests in the hands of HPT (McCallaster, 2004). In order to maximize the best possible reaction to change, HPT will communicate the objectives of the attendance initiative with the appropriate members of the business unit and work group. Additionally, HPT will discuss this initiative with the leadership team to make sure there is support and buy-in from above. Obtaining executive sponsors increases the chance that change objectives will be met (Pershing, 2006). Finally, prior to meeting with the training audience, HPT will survey the supervisors to identify any areas of potential resistance. Based on this survey data, HPT and executive sponsors can design activities to address and mitigate potential resistance (Pershing, 2006).

Description of Performance Evaluation and Continuous Quality Improvement

The attendance intervention suggested for Hummel Insurance Company will be viewed as a success only if it meets its targeted objectives. In this case, there is a performance need to reduce absenteeism from an average of five days per six-month period to one day per six-month period. An ancillary goal would be to improve the timeframe in which phone calls are answered. These objectives can be assessed by utilizing a thorough evaluation process. Evaluation assures that the proficiency of the target audience is improved while holding all parties accountable and enhancing overall organizational quality (Pershing, 2006).

In order to effectively evaluate the attendance improvement intervention that has been suggested for Hummel Insurance Company, a formative evaluation is conducted to ensure that the intervention has the best possible chance of success from the outset. This includes seeking feedback from supervisors training leaders to make sure the design and content of the intervention are accurate and appropriate. Upon receipt of this feedback, the intervention is conducted with a pilot audience and feedback is sought out to troubleshoot training irregularities (Pershing, 2006). After the formative evaluation process is complete, it is time to roll-out the improvement initiative with the targeted group of supervisors. In evaluating the effectiveness with this group, the Kirkpatrick Model is implemented for the purposes of communication (Wang & Li, 2003) while advancing the Five-Phase Framework for Evaluation of HPT for intervention framing (Pershing, 2006).