Are HR professionals prepared for a surge in holiday leave requests at end of financial year?

It’s the end of the financial year for many organisations, which means HRs could have been swamped with last minute requests for holiday leave as people want to use up their holiday entitlement, says Adrian Lewis, Director of Activ Absence.

A survey commissioned by British Airways in January revealed that one-third of UK workers did not use up their annual leave in 2017, losing an average of four days each.  A ‘use it or lose it’ policy can mean hundreds of last minute holiday requests for HR to process.

The recent cold weather is also likely to prompt more holiday requests as people decide they want to head off for some sun, leaving HRs in a panic on how to manage the volume of requests so everyone is happy and ensure its business as usual in the office.

Adrian Lewis says,

“Employees leaving holiday leave requests until the last minute is every HR’s nightmare. Companies want to encourage people to take their full holiday entitlement as they know it’s good for health and wellbeing, but also need to ensure the workplace is fully staffed and avoid too many clashes.

“Unfortunately, lots of companies are in the dark over how much holiday leave someone has left to take, especially if they are relying on spreadsheets, wall planners or paper forms to manage leave. This adds more pressure and makes it more likely for errors to occur, resulting in employees booking leave at the same time.

“The solution is absence management software that enables HRs to easily manage and stay on top of staff holiday planning. A centralised system where holiday leave can be requested and approved at the touch of a button allows for greater transparency, better resourcing and helps business plan more effectively.”

Adrian adds;

“The technology also allows employers to set alerts such as automatically prompting staff to book leave if a set level is accrued, thus preventing a buildup of annual leave. HRs can nudge people to take their holiday leave throughout the year, helping to avoid last minute requests at this time of year,” 

Snowy weather doesn’t need to impact business productivity says Activ Absence

With parts of Wales now at the highest red “extreme weather” level and over 1,000 schools closed due to Storm Emma, Adrian Lewis, Managing Director, Activ Absence, based in Bridgend, South Wales says adverse weather conditions don’t need to cause chaos in the office too.

  

Adrian Lewis commented;

“With many office workers not able to make it into work or being sent home early this week the normal business day can be disrupted, which can negatively affect productivity, especially if companies can’t keep on top of where people are.

“However, this doesn’t need to be the case. With the right technology companies can easily allow flexible working and home working which means it can be business as usual, even if people can’t get into the office due to bad weather. We sent everyone home yesterday and several employees worked from home because they couldn’t get in.”

“Absence management software enables managers to keep track of who is working, when and where. People can log on as soon as they know they can’t make into the office and need to work from home. This gives managers an instant overview of where everyone is and allows them to plan the working day accordingly.

Adrian added;

“With people often wasting hours trying to brave public transport or driving to get into the office, this technology makes it simple for companies to have policies in place to plan for events such as poor weather, allowing staff to work flexibly or at home if necessary, and help minimise the impact on productivity,”

Top tips to help employers win this Six Nations

The Six Nations rugby tournament is underway with the second round this weekend and England’s win!

This may not be great news though for Britain’s employers who are likely to be seeing an increase in employee with hangovers and a rise in sickness absence and presenteeism with matches taking place on both Saturday and Sunday, says Adrian Lewis, director at Activ Absence.

Adrian says,

“A Sunday match usually means an increase in ‘Sickie Mondays’ as people recover from a weekend of over-indulgence and a rise in calls from employees experiencing ‘travel delays’ so they can start work later. Similarly, with Saturday games often see workers trying to sneak off early to travel to the game.

“On the flip side rugby fans that make it into work after a big match could be below par, reducing productively as they struggle to recover at their desks. However, with planning employers can minimise the impact on the workplace and ensure its business as usual over the next few weeks,” 

Adrian offers the following tips to help employers manage staff during the Six Nations:

Reinforce expected behaviour ahead of time – given the intense competition between nations, it’s important to communicate the kind of language and behaviour that isn’t acceptable in the workplace.  National pride can’t be allowed to create conflict in the workplace, so make sure nobody feels bullied and that any workplaces discussions are good natured and inclusive, whichever nation your workplace is located in.

Don’t forget presenteeism – while it’s commendable that people come into work despite a hangover, if they are not capable of working they will damage productivity. Also operating machinery or driving whilst still under the influence of alcohol is dangerous and in some cases illegal.  Decide what your policies regarding alcohol and hangovers are and make sure the policy is circulated and enforced.

Have a clear absence management plan – employers will benefit by keeping an eye on key sporting fixtures for their region.  Remind staff on your policy on sickness absence.  More than half of employed adults believe their work performance is negatively impacted when attendance policies are not fairly enforced throughout an organisation, so make sure sickness absence rules apply equally to management and staff.

Educate your staff – staff often don’t realise that short term absence has a big impact on the company’s bottom line and are more disruptive to the business than long term sickness.   You could subtly discourage sickies by asking staff if they want to book Friday or Monday off ahead of the weekend fixtures (so they know their excuses are not likely to work).

Use return-to-work forms and interviews – sporting sickies almost always have repeat offenders, but managers need data if they want to challenge people who may be taking sickies that aren’t genuine. Absence management software can help spot trends and record data from back to work interviews. Recognising patterns gives managers the tools they need to tackle the problem. Once a pattern of absence is identified they can determine what action to take – and prompt action avoids escalation.

Get rid of staff planning spreadsheets – instead of using spreadsheets for staff planning, which are prone to error, computer crashes and offer zero in the way of reporting and analysis, think about investing in absence management software. It’s designed for the job and will pay for itself in the long run by reducing sickness absence, improving staff engagement and streamlining reporting, as well as giving useful data enabling better targeting of wellness budgets.