Because it takes so much work for HR professionals to deal with absence management, it would be amazing if your workers were so motivated that they stuck to your leave policies out of sheer loyalty to the company. But, loyalty is earned. Here are five moves you can make to get the most loyalty out of your leave policy and tend to the emotional needs of your employees:
1. Have company values and act on them.
As a company, it’s important to clarify what your company values. Including language in your personnel manual that emphasizes the individual’s contribution to the whole and why that matters in a team environment can be essential in keeping your employees present and engaged. Language like this could be helpful in shaping your policy:
“At X company, we don’t just do Y. We look to a higher purpose that calls on us to Z. Answering this calling means that we’re here every day, doing well our parts. We value the talents of our employees [or team members or colleagues or what-you-call-them] and look to them to help us accomplish Y, but also Z. We thank you in advance for being here, doing the hard work it takes to make these goals into accomplishments.”
It’s been found that if a company simply has values, it makes a significant difference for workers. Those values, no matter what they are, serve to guide employees toward the larger mission of the company. Applying discussion of these values to your leave management policies is the way to see more loyalty from the beginning.
2. Keep it positive.
Everyone needs a purpose, so providing an appreciation for your employees and their work will make for a positive company culture. Beyond appreciating your workers, it’s also essential to remember that you’re working with humans who do have needs.
Perhaps your company culture is one that encourages integration of work and life (like Zappos) or a culture that carefully divides the line between work and home. Either way, people will need time off for that once-in-a-lifetime chance to be on Jeopardy or maybe even to bring a new human into the world. Being flexible and easy to work with in your absence management policies will intensify company loyalty.
3. Consider the emotional value of paid time off.
Paid time off for bereavement time, jury duty, and military leave (not to mention holidays) might seem like it could pull down the bottom line; after all, why should you pay your employees when they aren’t there? In the long run, however, these policies build loyalty and help retain the talented people you’ve hired. Plus, you save the expense of having to hire again and again.
A particularly smart move is to publicize those leave policies in place that serve your employees. This way, you can advertise this as a perk of your workplace and your current employees will be more likely to encourage the talented people in their circle to apply to open positions.
4. Reward perfect attendance.
Remember when those one or two students got perfect attendance at the end of the school year at the annual awards ceremony? A certificate is a nice way to recognize those employees who you can count on to be there no matter what, but maybe you can do a little more to make it more prestigious.
From a lottery drawing of all employees with perfect attendance to a lunch celebration, these little touches can be extra motivating when employees think about the possibility of a reward in store.
5. Leave management can be made less complicated through loyalty.
Customer and client loyalty are essential to any company’s bottom line. But the people cultivating that loyalty are your employees. Taking care of the emotional needs of these hard workers through human-focused leave management will build their loyalty to the company, promote a positive workplace environment, and keep the clients coming back.
Related Article: 5 Steps for Efficiently Enforcing Absence Leave Policies
Once you’ve decided on policies attuned to today’s modern workplace, the next step is to research an automated solution for managing employee leave.
For more information on absence management, contact us or call (800) 599-0434.
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