Workplaces were given strict protocols and tight restrictions for all employees to follow. However, these days the inside workings of most offices have become more flexible and unattached. There is room for employees to work as they like, whether behaving abruptly inside the professional setting or taking as many leaves as they want.

While today’s era allows more freedom in any social environment, you are, and of any gender or race, some managers or leaders may take it a little too far and allow absenteeism to reign. The most problematic disadvantage of such allowance can be the discipline that keeps the employees and professional buildings in line get distorted, and employees feel the business of morale being trampled.

For this reason and several others its crucial to start analyzing and straightening the time and attendance system of your employees with the following tips:

1. Curate an Authentic Attendance System

Keeping up with employees’ absents, sick leaves, incomplete timings, and more details on attendance can be challenging for HR personnel, whether working for a big company or not. For this reason, it can be challenging to have a manual system for attendance for employees and the hr in keeping up with and extracting records.

If there are mistakes in the records, it can become an issue when an employee is falsely accused or given more allowance that doesn’t justify the off days they took. Both could end up causing a lot to your business. Even if there is a manual system for attendance marking, your facility should invest in time and attendance software for automating accurate record keeping.

2. Take Notice of Consistent Behavior

An employee taking uninformed leaves once or twice a month may not hurt your company as much, but if one starts to make it into a normal thing to call an off day every day, the behavior shouldn’t be tolerated. For this reason, it’s best to take notice of such offenders as soon as possible and keep track of their behavior after giving them a warning. Make sure not to tolerate more than that could hurt the office environment and give a bad name to the company.

3. Put Up Consequences

The strict observations and regulations used by managers to govern employees closely and restrain any workplace freedom may not be practical today but can be used to some extent. If your fear that your employees are starting to get too relaxed and don’t fear the system at all, maybe it’s time to show some authority.

This can be done by creating policies and showing your dissatisfaction with absenteeism. Make sure to add exact consequences to violation of the company policy for taking more than defined off days for no serious reason.

4. Set Expectations

Besides making precise cuts and company policies regarding employees taking off days more than required, ensure a set of expectations. Managers can inform these expectations and guidelines regularly to employees and to those that get newly recruited. Such expectations can help your employees feel the company’s burden and make them perform their duties satisfactorily.

5. Macro Manage

While it’s better to surveillance absenteeism and the offenders closely and make them accountable for their faults, it’s best to allow some space as well. Give your employees freedom and will enable them to explain the reasons for their absences. Abe that there is a big issue behind their leaves that they cannot overcome at home or involving their health.

Terminating or suspending an employee without listening to their explanations may cost you a lot. Maybe you can give them advice on their situation or allow flexibility in their office timings to help them complete office hours and lessen absents as much as possible.

6. Manage Record

After automating the system and collecting data on attendance, it’s essential to maintain a record of everything for future reference. These attendance records can tell you about your employees’ behavior and any unwanted behavior regarding taking absents. You can recognize the days that the employees are the tardiest and take the most off days in a month and allow a solution for such lethargy. This data can help you straighten out the absenteeism in your company and make way for the highest productivity and use of office staff.

7. Create a Follow-up Culture

After employees return from their off day and begin doing their work on a routine basis, ensure to one-on-one with them. However, don’t make this meeting too stressful by asking direct questions about their health and issues that made them take a day off. This meeting will help your employee learn that you care for their wellbeing and sustenance on a personal level. You will also help them feel relaxed and tell you their worries effortlessly. In return, you’ll get to know the right way to deal with the employee and provide solutions.