Management needs to ask itself whether it is giving absent employees a reason to change bad habits, says Mark Marsen, director of human resources at Allies for Health + Wellbeing.
"Employers are responsible for determining standards of conduct, communicating those standards, measuring/monitoring them and taking action if standards are not being met," says Marsen, who also is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management's HR discipline expertise panel.
"If leadership is not doing those things, I would say that is a contributing factor to bad behavior and, in all likelihood, a reinforcement of poor standards," Marsen notes.
It is imperative for management to tackle absenteeism in a very proactive and timely way that sends a clear message to all workers, says Doug Blizzard, vice president of CAI Services Corporation.
"Failure to do so does lead to increased absenteeism among all employees--'Why should I arrive on time when the boss doesn't care,'" Blizzard says. Management should have frank discussions with problem staff to try to learn what might be the cause for their absenteeism.
"Learn about their situations, families, what motivates them, ect.," Blizzard says. "This knowledge helps a supervisor make the right decision when attendance starts to slide."
Management may also need to reassess their hiring process if they constantly bring on new employees who are not the right fit and end up blowing off work, Blizzard notes.