HR interim managers in action: productivity increased and working atmosphere saved! Agile interim management and effective absence management as a recipe for success. Find out how an interim manager successfully reduced absenteeism and improved employee satisfaction
The starting point
A medium-sized company specializing in the production of industrial and consumer packaging was confronted with double-digit absenteeism rates in the industrial sector. This led to additional stress for employees due to overtime, increasing dissatisfaction and a deterioration in the working atmosphere.
Supervisors came under increasing pressure to act, as production was sometimes at risk.
Previous measures taken by the HR manager at the time, such as the introduction of return-to-work interviews and the introduction of an escalation process up to the threat of dismissal, remained unsatisfactory. In addition, the HR manager at the time was about to retire. During this time, an interim manager was brought in.
The task
The first step was to commission the HANSE Interim Manager to reduce absenteeism as quickly as possible, and the second step was to optimize personnel management in the department until a successor could be found.
The interim manager suggested to the management, the production manager and in consultation with the works council that they first analyze the reasons for absenteeism in order to identify patterns and trends and compile statistics, uncover correlations and then derive and implement an effective absence management strategy.
This also included identifying “blue-collar workers” in the company, reducing the risk of the copycat effect (blue-collar virus) due to declining company morale and counteracting the growing impression among employees that the employer would do nothing about so-called “blue-collar workers”.
Furthermore, the image and acceptance of company integration management among employees and their willingness to participate is increased.
The return-to-work meetings are given a new character by providing managers with appropriate training and strengthening them in conducting discussions.
In terms of the overall approach, the focus was not on “hunting down sick people”, but on understanding what is going on in the employee, uncovering reasons for possible employee demotivation and getting everyone involved on board early on and finding supporters. A key objective was also to engage in prevention in order to create healthy and appreciative conditions within the company.
The solution
The HANSE Interim Manager presented and discussed the results of her analysis and the packages of measures she had developed with the management, production management and the works council. After approval, the results and a roadmap with measures were presented to the management team and discussed.
As these were new ideas and measures, the interim manager suggested organizing the implementation in agile “sprints”, evaluating the implemented measures in the regular retrospectives and adjusting them accordingly depending on success and failure.
At the end of each retrospective, it was determined with which employees the interim manager was to conduct absence interviews. She then evaluated the absence interviews in writing, made recommendations for further action, discussed them with the line manager and management and agreed a follow-up meeting with the employees.
The interim manager also worked closely with the company doctor and the health insurance companies. The interim manager also took into account the overview of the distribution of ICD classifications gained from the health insurance reports when drawing up the packages of measures.
Independently of the usual reporting to the management, it developed a communication strategy aimed at raising employee awareness of absence management. The workforce was regularly informed about the usual KPIs in absence management as well as the company costs and their monthly developments in order to raise awareness of the economic impact of high absence rates.
The interim manager also drew up a list of warning signs for the misuse of sick pay and an overview of typical “blue-collar” illnesses to increase managers’ confidence in distinguishing between genuine cases of illness and possible misconduct.
The company integration management process was redesigned and was also part of the communication strategy.
The result
Thanks to the regular retrospectives and the regular discussion of the packages of measures, the managers, especially the junior managers, felt supported by HR management and not left alone in their responsibilities.
With the agile retrospectives, the management, executives and HR management established a forum for an intensive exchange of experiences in which they discussed active absence management together. The managers significantly reduced the initially subjectively perceived helplessness and helplessness.
The absenteeism rate fell significantly and is currently even below the average for health insurance companies.
Conclusion
It is rare for someone to be 100% healthy, as the perception of pain varies from person to person. Ultimately, it is the employee who decides whether or not to be absent due to illness, and this happens around 200 times a year.
Sickness-related absences can be very expensive for a company. Instead of looking for people to blame or hunting down sick people, it is better to focus on working together and understanding what is going on in employees’ minds and involving everyone involved at an early stage.
We hope you like the project story and, as always, we look forward to your suggestions and comments!
With best regards
Your HANSE Interim Management
Andreas Lau
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