Addressing employee absenteeism at the Coca-Cola Company

Organizational Motivation and Leadership

The Coca Cola Company

Coca Cola Company is a leading manufacturer and distributor of syrups and non-alcoholic beverages. Coca-Cola being the world-leading brand, markets four of the world's top-five soft drink brands, which include Sprite, Fanta, and diet coke. There is no other brand much recognized as Coca Cola. The company operates in more than 200 nations and has a diversified workforce comprising of more than 200 different nationalities and communication of more than 100 different languages. The company is part of each of the societies they serve all over the world. Operating as a local business partner, they emphasize on the provision of quality in the market place, workplace enhancement, recognizing the environment and strengthening the community (Chance & Chance, 2002).

Coca Cola is the best-known product and the best supplier of soft drinks all over the globe history of the sift drink industry. The product was invented by Dr. John S. Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1986. Its name originated from Pemberton's bookkeeper called Frank Robinson. The name was kept in a flowing script, which is very popular today. After mixing Coca Cola syrup with carbonated soda, it was sold at a soda fountain in Jacob's pharmacy by Willis Venable in Atlanta. In the first year of its invention, the company sold an average of nine drinks a day and the entire sales added up to $50. Balancing this with the year's expense there was a deficit of $20 taking home a loss. Currently, Coca Cola Company boasts of more than one billion consumers a day (James, 2008).

Selected situation

Absenteeism is defined as the habit and pattern of missing from duty or an obligation. In traditional times, absenteeism was given the impression of low individual performance and a breach of an implicit contract between the employer and employee. This was viewed as a management problem and put in a bracket of economic or quasi-economic terms. Currently many scholars have focused their efforts towards investigations to establish how absenteeism shows psychological, medical, or social adjustment to work. If there is high absenteeism in the place of work it gives an indication of poor morale, it can also be due to hazards in the place of work or a sickness syndrome. The Coca Cola Company tends to rely on statistics, which include the Bradford Factor to differentiate between genuine illness and absence due to unjustified reasons (Fulton & Maddock, 2008).

Consequently, many employees have the feeling that they are not obligated to go to work while they are ill, and pass on communicable diseases to their fellow workers. This has led to increased absenteeism and reduced productivity due to fellow workers who try work while ill. Forces related to work usually give an excuse causing absenteeism. However, when it is a case of medical reasons then the employee must confirm with a note from the doctor or any other valid documentation confirming the illness. Businesses find it unprofessional and inconsiderate for employees not to show up at work without giving an advance notice. This is usually termed as "no call, no show." People who are dissatisfied with their work become more absent frequently (Chance & Chance, 2002).

The role of organizational leadership in your selected situation

The Coca Cola Company has resorted to policies and programs that address employee absenteeism. The company has been successful to address this situation because these policies have focused on absenteeism itself. Rewarding timeliness and punishing violators is one way of solving the issue. In order for the Coca Cola Company to eliminate this problem, it must identify its origin. However, the problem is that the source may not be found where it is thought to be (James, 2008).

The Coca Cola Company is seeking the cause of the problem in the nature of the workers, which may include the generation of employees at work. If the later is addressed, productivity could increase, and absenteeism could reduce. The company has also established that the core cause of employee absenteeism is based on poor morale. This is generated by the company's policies, procedures and the overall style of management and not in the shortcomings of workers. The Coca Cola Company can adjust their policies, regulations, and procedures to facilitate the work of employees. The managers should ensure that there is an exchange of feedback, to and from employees. This system can be fully incorporated into the company's managerial deliberations (Huston & Marquis, 2009

The role of power and influence in the selected situation

Earlier this year, the CEO of Coca Cola pointed out that there has been an increase in employee absenteeism especially when approaching weekends. He put the blame on the company's industrial relation system and demanded for the policy to be changed. High rates of employee absenteeism at the company suggest that employees have not been appropriately engaged (Miner, 2007). Research indicates that when employees are not engaged, it leads to high rates of employee absenteeism. Employees become stressed and fragile when they encounter an uninspiring workplace or crappy leaders confront and will seek some escape route. In order to escape, they will create false excuses such as sickness. Most of them refer to such situations as stress days because they are sick and tired of their bosses and they need to take a break. For the above reasons, leaders at the Coca Cola Company have abandoned sick leaves by replacing it with personal leave. They are no interest to find out why an employee would ask for a day off. If they want more time away from work, they are given. The company estimates shows that it loses over $395 from absent employees (James, 2008).