Hi,
been reading your thread and AM NOT a HR Professsional however was a senior manager within Internet industry for 8 years. Now am project manager / trainer / facilitator.
Had the same problem in a department of 150 people. We made a major reduction in sick leave by introducing the following steps:
1. One 2 One's with Line Manager
EVERYTIME someone rings in sick, they needed to complete a sick leave form which was then followed by a one 2 one meeting with their TL - this has to happen without fail...through the ranks including YOU with your boss!!!
Impact
This meant that all staff felt that sickness was an issue and was being reviewed everytime it happened. With the message to the management team that there may be levels of sickness that we're missing which could be impacted such as
"I get migraines" - "do you need to get an eye test and wear glasses?"
This actually creates a platform where staff feel attended to and that there is a concern for their welfare. The additional point is that they start to run out of "excuses" for getting out of bed. Patterns can quicly be identified and it's obvious when people just aren't happy in their work. (refer to Herzberg's Hygiene & Motivational Factors). This increases the amount of "can't be bothered!". If this is identified through having a relationship with their line manager this can be addressed by the same by identifying work which will motivate staff to want to come into work.
2.
Reward System for Positive Behaviour
I've NEVER seen a penalty system implemented into a workplace that has had a long term positive impact. We reduced our churn rate, in a technical support call centre, from 70% to 7% in 2 years.
Would suggest identifying KPI's that can be attributed to your staff on some base indicators relevant to your area...i.e. Productivity, Accuracy, Punctuality, Attendance.
Then record and mark these on a weekly basis which attributes to a monthly program where the best scores acheive a rank in the department.
For attendance...those that DON'T have a day off sick receive 250 bonus points. Those that are never late all month receive 250 bonus points so on and so forth. Depends what's important in your team.
Impact
This creates an environment where people have goals to acheive and can see the fruits of their labour. You're going to need to request budget for this for rewards, however they don't always need to be financial. You could award an addiitonal days paid holiday or 2 days? Something you can manage internally. Or you can assign the member of staff to a team once a week each month to another department for them to understand how they work as part of their personal development process. Get creative! Find out what motivates them!
As part of all the above you'll need to ensure your line management team all understand the new culture of encouragement. Might be an idea to set up a team scoring process where the best peforming team of the month then is rewarded with a lunch out together paid. Peer pressure is extremely effective!
I've attached a note on Herzbergs theory. Let me know if this is any help. It's the first time I've replied on this site, quite interested.
Thanks
Dylan
Frederick Herzberg – Hygiene and Motivation Factors
1923 - 2000
Frederick Herzberg proposed from his research, that satisfaction and dis-satisfaction at work resulted from two different factors – “
Hygiene” and “
Motivation” factors.
Hygiene factors
- Supervision, work conditions, salary, security, relationship with peers and management
Motivation factors
- Achievement, job itself, recognition, responsibility, advancement.
Herzberg stated all hygiene and motivation factors must be present for job satisfaction. Hygiene factors need to be present to avoid job dis-satisfaction, but
will not cause job satisfaction.
Motivation factors need to be present for job satisfaction, and are different to dis-satisfying hygiene factors. Motivation factors are not the opposite reaction to hygiene factors.
Herzberg called the dis-satisfiers "hygiene factors" because they helped prevent dissatisfaction, but in themselves would never provide real satisfaction. Perhaps you have a good salary, in a secure job in a company you like, but there's something missing. You're not dis-satisfied with your work, but you're not satisfied either. The key to job satisfaction is having one or more of the "motivator factors" present.
To put Frederick Herzberg theory into practice, consider these two questions;
1) "Which of these cause me irritation or frustration if I don't have them?"
2) "Which of these when I do have them, make me feel fulfilled and involved in my work?"
Critics consider Herzberg's two factor theory to be simplistic - what motivates me may be a dissatisfier for someone else. For example, increased responsibility for one person may be a motivator as they can grow and develop in their role, allowing them to further their career. But to another person, increased responsibility can be a dis-satisfier, particularly if pay does not reflect the new role or if they are over-stretched already.
To make use of this criticism, you need to consider your team as a collection of individuals, not as a homogeneous group with one set of wants and needs. Take each individual and ask the same two questions, and by the time you've worked through your team, you will have a clear idea what you need to do to increase job satisfaction.
Some factors may be within your control, some may not. For example, it many not be possible to influence company holiday policy, but you could decide within the team how holidays are allocated. Work with what you can change and highlight those you can't to your manager or through the company's employee feedback mechanisms.
Unlike some staff motivation theories, Frederick Herzberg theory is easy to remember, easy to explain and easy to use. By considering Herzberg's two factor theory, you can work out what dis-satisfies your team, what motivates them and most importantly, what you can do to increase job satisfaction.